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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
MIAMI (AP) -- When Jamal Mashburn came out of the game with four
minutes left, the sparse remaining crowd near the Charlotte bench
jeered him one last time. Mashburn responded by pointing behind the
fans toward the top of the arena.
|  | | Miami's Anthony Mason tries to squeeze between Charlotte's Elden Campbell, left, and P.J. Brown, but his team couldn't squeeze out a victory either. |
"Scoreboard," he said. "That's the bottom line."
Mashburn burned his former team with 28 points, and the Hornets
stunned the Miami Heat 106-80 Saturday night in the opening game of
their best-of-five playoff series.
Traded last August after four seasons in Miami, Mashburn came to
Charlotte with a reputation for wilting in the clutch, especially
in the postseason. But he rose to this occasion.
"This is the playoffs," Mashburn said. "It has nothing to do
with any personal feelings. I'm just trying to advance."
Baron Davis scored 23 points and David Wesley 17 for the
Hornets, who repeatedly beat the lethargic Heat in transition and
dominated the boards. By the midpoint of the third quarter, the
Heat trailed 70-42 -- their largest deficit this season.
Charlotte's 106 points are the most allowed by Miami this
season.
Mashburn talked trash with former teammate Tim Hardaway and got
in the last word. He sank a 3-pointer and converted a three-point
play to help break the game open, made all nine of his free throws
and added five assists.
Hardaway, who missed the final three regular-season games with a
bruised left foot, started but scored just three points and shot
1-for-6 in 18 minutes. He hinted afterward that he might take himself
out of the lineup.
"I've got a decision to make, and I'll make it Sunday," he
said. "I wasn't effective for the team at all. I wasn't able to
make the moves I want to make. Their guy was blowing past me."
Heat coach Pat Riley acknowledged that the Hornets had Hardaway
struggling.
"They went right at him," Riley said. "It looked as though he
was limited to some extent. They were not going to let him play at
all."
With the dismal performance, the Heat squandered the home-court
advantage they worked 82 games to earn. Game 2 is Monday before the
series switches to Charlotte.
"I like our position right now," Hornets coach Paul Silas
said. "This was our goal -- to get one of these two games, and then
all of the pressure is on the Heat. You have no room for error in a
five-game series."
The Heat were finally at full strength after playing
short-handed virtually all season. Alonzo Mourning, Anthony Mason
and Eddie Jones started together for the first time, but their
disjointed play made Miami look like a team at the start of
training camp.
"That was absolutely getting drilled," Riley said. "Our
problem was an offensive problem. We just didn't react to their
pressure."
Miami totaled 23 turnovers, which led to 32 Charlotte points. In
the early going the crowd booed Mashburn every time he touched the
ball, but by the third period the jeers were directed at the Heat.
Mourning, playing his 14th game in a comeback from kidney
disease, had 14 points and just three rebounds in 27 minutes. He
left the game midway through the fourth quarter with a cut near his
right eye that required five stitches.
Mason had four points and two rebounds in 34 minutes.
The Hornets won the opening game of a playoff series for only
the second time in franchise history. They averaged only 77.5
points in four regular-season games against Miami, but raced to a
43-28 lead midway through the second quarter.
The margin was 50-40 at halftime, and Charlotte outscored Miami
20-2 at the start of the third period to make it 70-42. Davis and
Wesley each sank a 3-pointer on the first two shots of the quarter,
and Miami committed a turnover on five consecutive possessions.
"We want to push the ball," Mashburn said. "We want to make
it a rat race. That's the name of our game."
Game notes
The sellout crowd of 20,085 was the largest for a Heat home
playoff game. ... The only other time the Hornets led a series 1-0
was in the opening round in 1998, when they went on to eliminate
Atlanta. ... Miami allowed 100 points in a playoff game for the
first time in four years.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Charlotte Clubhouse
Miami Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 79
Philadelphia 78
Utah 88
Dallas 86
San Antonio 87
Minnesota 82
Charlotte 106
Miami 80
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Baron Davis grabs the steal then brings it the other way for the jam.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
 Jamal Mashburn says this win was all about the Hornets, not any grudges.
wav: 76 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Pat Riley feels the Heat got beat in every aspect of the game.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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