Charlotte Hornets: Unlikely Heroes Emerging At The Right Time
Despite dropping the first two games of their first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat, the Charlotte Hornets are now one win away from advancing to the next round thanks to a pair of unlikely heroes.
The Charlotte Hornets didn’t put up much of a fight in the first two games of their playoff series against the Miami Heat. In fact, Miami averaged 119 points and shot 58 percent from the field. Based on those numbers, it was reasonable to presume that the Heat would impose their will the rest of the way and close out the series in four, maybe five games.
The Hornets quickly squashed any talk of a sweep with back-to-back victories on their home court, reducing this compelling matchup to a best-of-three series. Funny how quickly momentum can shift from one team to the other, isn’t it?
While the Hornets had tied the series at two games apiece, they still needed a road victory in order to have hope of winning this series. After witnessing the first two games that were played at American Airlines Arena, the odds of that happening were relatively slim.
However, thanks to a pair of unlikely heroes in Marvin Williams and Courtney Lee, the Hornets did the unthinkable on Wednesday night, beating the Heat 90-88 to take a 3-2 series lead.
Related Story: 25 Best Players to Play for the Charlotte Hornets
First, let’s start with Marvin Williams. In the series opener, Williams scored just two points, while his counterpart, Luol Deng, scored 31 points. Needless to say, the production disparity between the two players was a huge reason why the Heat cruised to a 123-91 victory.
Unfortunately for the Hornets, that trend continued through the next three games, with Deng outscoring Williams by a comfortable 81-14 margin. If the Hornets had any hopes of getting past the Heat, Williams would have to find a way offset Deng’s production at some point.
In Game 5, that finally came to fruition, as Williams led the Hornets in scoring with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. Meanwhile, Deng scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, but connected on just four of his 12 attempts.
"He helps his teammates play better at both ends of the floor - every possession." @hornets Clifford on Marvin Williams. #CHAatMIA
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) April 28, 2016
What about Lee?
Well, similar to his teammate, Lee has had his fair share of struggles during the series as well, shooting just 36.6 percent from the field. But as the following examples will demonstrate, sometimes being at the right place at the right time can be the difference between winning and losing.
With the Hornets leading 87-85 in the closing seconds of Game 4, following a miss by Kemba Walker, Lee grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He converted the free throws, which enabled the Hornets to come away with an 89-85 victory.
"“I had nothing,” Walker said, via the Gaston Gazette. “I was able to get the ball up, and I actually thought it was going in, but it went short. Courtney came out of nowhere and made a huge play, a huge rebound and two huge free throws to seal the deal for us.”"
In Game 5, there had to be a feeling of déjà vu for both teams, as once again, Lee crashed the glass following a miss by Walker, giving the Hornets another possession. This time, though, Lee calmly nailed a three-pointer that proved to be the game winner.
It is worth noting that 1) Lee had missed on seven of his first eight attempts and 2) this lone rebound proved to be the biggest one of all for a Hornets team that was outrebounded 50-41 and outscored 13-4 in second-chance points.
Knocking down his biggest shot of the series thus far, what gave him the confidence to take that shot when the percentages were clearly not in his favor?
One word: faith.
"“I had a massage yesterday, and we pretty much do Bible study in the massage session, and she was explaining faith,” he told TNT’s Rebecca Haarlow. ”And it was just like, Believe in something that you can’t see.’ It was not my best shooting performance. I felt like I couldn’t make a shot, but the biggest shot went in, so I’m grateful.”"
More hoops habit: NBA Draft: Best Player Ever Selected in all 60 Spots
Whether or not divine intervention truly played a part in this game-changing sequence remains to be seen. But being that the Hornets have already bounced back with three straight wins after a pair of demoralizing losses, who’s to say they can’t defy the odds once more and close out the Heat on their home floor in Game 6?