[2TheAdvocate] Stakes, emotions high for Hornets

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http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/050404/hor_hornets001.shtml Stakes, emotions high for Hornets By LES EAST Special to The Advocate NEW ORLEANS -- Sixteen days ago, the New Orleans Hornets and the Miami Heat began their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. They have played six times and each time the home team has won, leaving a winner-take-all Game 7 to be played at 6 p.m. CDT today in Miami (TNT). As the stakes have gotten higher, emotions have intensified. Eleven of the 15 technical fouls called in the series have come in the last two games, eight of them on the Hornets. So with both teams' seasons riding on tonight's outcome, the difference could well be which team does the best job of keeping its emotions in check. Both have lost their composure at times, usually as the visitor. "Composure is everything, especially in this series," Hornets guard Baron Davis said. "It's going to be even more physical and even more emotional in Game 7. The team that's been able to get stops at the end and hit big shots has been the team to win." New Orleans has far more experience than Miami, particularly in the playoffs, but hasn't always played that way. The Heat were more composed down the stretch in winning Games 1 and 5 at home. Miami rookie guard Dwyane Wade hit the two biggest shots of the series, a game-winner with one second left in Game 1 and a 3-pointer that gave Miami the lead for good in the final minute of Game 5. "We feel comfortable and confident that we can get the job done," Hornets forward P.J. Brown said. "We gave away Game 1. We gave away Game 5. Coming down the stretch, we didn't take care of the ball and play smart down there. Hopefully we learned our lesson." Brown led an all-out assault on the Heat's collective head in Game 6. The Hornets bumped the Heat when they came into the lane and barked at them throughout. "In Game 7, we're going to come out with the same force and aggression," Brown said. "But most of all we're going to have fun. I would think they're starting to feel some pressure." Brown frustrated Heat forward Lamar Odom into his worst game of the series -- nine points on 3-of-12 shooting and six turnovers before fouling out. Brown had 16 points. "We do our fighting with our play," Odom said. "You have to have contained aggression. You can't be intimidated in a basketball game." The Hornets are 0-5 in Miami this season, having last won there late last season. The Heat have a 15-game home-court winning streak. "Maybe the odds are in our favor; we've lost like 18 straight down there," Hornets guard David Wesley said, smiling. "We've got to get one. Now would be a great time to do it. We have to get a win any way -- ugly, pretty, from the outside, from the inside. The pressure is to win Game 7, so both teams have the same amount." Two second-round series are already under way and another gets under way tonight. The final one starts Thursday in Indiana, once the Hornets and Heat finally decide who gets to play the top-seeded Pacers, who finished a first-round sweep of Boston on April 25. "I think most Game 7s come down to the last two minutes," Hornets coach Tim Floyd said, "whoever can execute late and get the ball to the rim late. It also comes down to defensive rebounding, not turning the ball over, and poise. Which team can play with a lot on the line?" Everything is on the line in this one. An 82-game regular-season produced a one-game difference between these teams, giving the Heat home-court advantage in this decisive game. "We've got to play smart," Hornets forward George Lynch said. "At times, we've lost our composure a little bit. We're the more veteran ball club. We should be able to control our emotions. He have to play physical, but we have to be smart about it." -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 218.166.80.12