Sports - Miami Heat vs. Charlotte Hornets - 11/3/97

CHARLOTTE 112, MIAMI 99
(Box Score)

MIAMI -- Glen Rice broke out of an early-season slump to score 15of his 28 points in the fourth quarter as the Charlotte Hornetsdefeated the Miami Heat, 112-99, for their first victory of theseason. Rice, traded from Miami to Charlotte exactly two yearsago, had scored just 21 points in his first two games whileshooting 27 percent from the floor. He averaged 26.8 points pergame last season and was named the Most Valuable Player of theAll-Star Game.

"It's always a homecoming when I come to Miami," Rice said. "Istarted my career here, I have a lot of fans and I wanted to puton a good show for them. It's very important we utilized myoffensive abilities. I draw a lot of defenders, and we need tomake our open shots."

David Wesley added 20 points for the Hornets, who had failed toscore more than 90 points in their two losses. Charlotte againwas without guard Bobby Phills, who has not played this seasondue to a sprained right ankle.

Jamal Mashburn had 18 points and Eric Murdock 17 for the Heat,who suffered their first loss after opening with two victories.Miami has surrendered at least 100 points in all three gamesafter allowing just 89.3 per game last season. The Heatsurrendered more than 112 points just twice last season.

"We all need to work and get to the same point we were last yearas far as defense and aggressiveness," Mashburn said. "We need toplay defense. Sometimes you don't shoot the ball well, but youstill need to play defense."

Charlotte broke open a close game late in the first quarter. DellCurry had four points and Matt Geiger three as the Hornets scoredthe final nine points of the period to take a 32-20 lead.Charlotte took its largest lead at 54-34 on Corey Beck's bucketwith 1:22 remaining in the first half.

Miami closed within 70-61 with 2:22 left in the third quarterwhen Tim Hardaway capped an 11-2 spurt with a layup. Mashburnopened the fourth period with a basket and Terry Mills buried a3-pointer to bring the Heat as close as they would get at 78-70with 9:46 to play. But the Hornets pulled away again behind Rice.

Curry and Geiger had 16 points each for the Hornets, who shot 55percent (40-for-73) from the field.

Charlotte Hornets 112, MIAMI HEAT 99
(Recap)

CHARLOTTE (112)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpRice            36 11-17   6-9   1-8  3  5   28Mason           36   3-9   1-2  4-11  3  2    7Divac           19   1-3   0-0   2-3  1  1    2Beck            32   3-4   1-3   2-4  5  0    7Wesley          38  6-15   7-8   0-2  8  4   20Geiger          31   4-8  8-12   2-8  2  4   16Farmer          12   4-4   3-4   2-6  1  2   11Curry           17  6-11   3-4   1-3  2  4   16Reid            10   0-0   0-0   0-1  1  2    0Delk             9   2-2   0-0   0-0  1  1    5Bogues         DNP - coach's decisionPhills         DNP - sprained right ankle_______________________________________________TOTALS         240 40-73 29-42 14-46 27 25  112_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.548, FT-.690. 3-Point Goals:3-11, .273 (Rice 0-2, Wesley 1-2, Geiger 0-2,Curry 1-4, Delk 1-1). Team rebounds: 11. Blockedshots: 1 (Mason). Turnovers: 22 (Rice 6, Wesley5, Beck 3, Curry 3, Mason 3, Delk, Geiger).Steals: 6 (Beck 2, Rice 2, Curry, Farmer).
MIAMI (99)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpMashburn        37  4-15 10-10   2-4  4  5   18Brown           26  5-13   0-0   0-5  0  6   10Austin          31   4-9   3-6   1-8  3  3   11Lenard          27  2-10   0-0   1-5  2  5    5Hardaway        31  6-12   0-0   1-2  3  3   13Murdock         27  6-14   4-6   2-2  3  1   17Mills           19   3-3   0-0   3-4  0  2    8Majerle          9   1-5   0-0   0-0  1  0    2Strickland      17   3-6   2-4   4-6  0  3    8Askins           5   0-2   0-0   1-1  0  0    0Day             11   2-6   3-4   1-2  0  5    7Causwell       DNP - coach's decision_______________________________________________TOTALS         240 36-95 22-30 16-39 16 33   99_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.379, FT-.733. 3-Point Goals:5-23, .217 (Mashburn 0-2, Lenard 1-4, Hardaway1-4, Murdock 1-4, Mills 2-2, Majerle 0-3, Askins0-1, Day 0-3). Team rebounds: 12. Blocked shots:4 (Strickland 2, Austin, Brown). Turnovers: 13(Austin 4, Hardaway 4, Mashburn 2, Brown,Murdock, Strickland). Steals: 13 (Hardaway 3,Murdock 3, Day 2, Mashburn 2, Austin, Lenard,Strickland).____________________________________________Charlotte          32   22   22   36  -  112Miami              20   17   28   34  -   99____________________________________________Technical fouls: Miami 2 (Hardaway, 3:51 2nd;Illegal Defense, 9:29 4th). Flagrant fouls: None.A: 14,587. T: 2:15. Officials: Don Vaden, JimCapers, Tommy Nunez.