Goran Dragic

Inconsistent Hornets face off with slumping Heat (Dec 29, 2016)

Published Dec. 29, 2016 4:35 a.m. ET

Motivated by a poor finish on Monday in Brooklyn, the Charlotte Hornets provided an effective response two nights later in Orlando.

It helped Nicolas Batum filled up the stat sheet and the defense made plays in the third quarter.

Now, Batum and the Hornets will look to put together a similar performance Thursday night when they host the Miami Heat -- two nights before a meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

At 18-14, the Hornets possess the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference but at times display bouts of inconsistency. Case in point, Monday night against the Brooklyn Nets.

Up 14 early in the third quarter, the Hornets could not get a game-changing run together and allowed the Nets to inch closer. The inconsistent night ended with a 120-118 Charlotte loss decided on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Randy Foye.

In Orlando, the Hornets won for the fourth time in five games with a 120-101 rout. This time, they had the run to put things out of reach with a 35-13 third quarter, highlighted by a 20-6 start after the defense allowed Orlando to shoot 59 percent before halftime.

While the Hornets are inconsistent at times, Batum has been a steady presence. He scored 20 points Wednesday, played the entire third quarter and nearly finished with a triple-double, recording eight assists and nine rebounds.

It was his 23rd game in double-figure scoring, eighth with 20 points and sixth instance with at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.

"Filling up the box score, that's every night with Nic," Charlotte guard Kemba Walker said. "Defensively, he can guard anybody, and offensively he can make any play on the court. People don't get to see us much and see how good he is, but we know how important he is to our team."

Walker rebounded from his 6-of-17 night in Brooklyn to shoot an efficient 8 of 12 at Orlando, and the Hornets placed six in double figures. The Hornets shot a season best 54.8 percent and more important, nobody played more than 30 minutes on the front end of Charlotte's seventh set of back-to-back games.

"We had to step up our defense," Batum said. "The way we played last game in Brooklyn wasn't us at all. In the first half, we did a better job. We had to step up our game. This team can score. We put our energy up and stopped them from getting easy baskets."

Miami is 1-5 in its past six games, a stretch that followed consecutive home wins over the Washington Wizards on Dec. 12 and the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 14. Injuries have played a major role in the Heat's 10-22 start, and health remains a problem.

Goran Dragic is questionable for Thursday due to lower back spasms, Dion Waiters will miss his 17th straight game with a groin injury, and Josh McRoberts is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his left foot after starting 14 games in a row before the a 106-94 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Miami is off to its worst 32-game start since beginning 2007-08 with 24 losses en route to 67 defeats. The Heat have already used 11 starting lineups, and no five-man group has started more than eight times.

Dragic did not play Tuesday. He sat after shooting 48.5 percent (34 of 70) in his previous four games, though he did fly to Charlotte.

"I don't know because the back, you don't know how it's going to react," Dragic said Wednesday. "I feel fine now. I still didn't do full speed, so that's going to worry me."

Without Dragic, Josh Richardson provided a bright spot Tuesday by tying his career high with 22 points when he was not running after triple-double machine Russell Westbrook on defense.

Like the rest of the Heat, Richardson dealt with injuries, missing six games earlier this month with a sprained ankle. However, until if Dragic is able to play, Richardson will run an offense that ranks at the bottom of the league in pace (94.4 possessions), points (98.4) and offensive rating (103.3).

"It's tough," Richardson said Tuesday. "We've had guys out. You see your brothers go down. We've been short-handed every game this year. You've got to persevere through it."

The low offensive numbers were on display Tuesday when the rest of the starting lineup combined to score 35 points on 13-of-30 shooting. It included Hassan Whiteside, who has 24 double-doubles and three games with 20-plus rebounds.

Tuesday was not one of those double-doubles, as Whiteside finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, which prompted critical comments from Miami broadcaster Ron Rothstein on a Wednesday radio show.

Miami won 16 straight against Charlotte from March 20, 2010, through March 3, 2014. Since LeBron James returned to Cleveland following the 2013-14 season, Charlotte is 5-4 in the teams' past nine meetings.