The Miami Heat were down by two points at half-time against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night and facing yet another close game down the stretch and a potential shaky performance against a weak team. Instead they raced out to a dominant third quarter and took control of the game with an eventual 132-115 blowout victory to improve their record to 6-7 on a night that honored Hall of Fame point guard Tim Hardaway.
Miami nailed their first 11 shots in the third quarter, one in which they have struggled more often than they have flourished, to erase a slim 59-57 Hornets lead at the half.