Hornets Extra: Hornets 96, Heat 89

89

96

If you want to beat the Miami Heat at their own game, you have to do just one thing: Beat the Heat minus LeBron James.  In it's previous 16 meetings, the then-Charlotte Bobcats were 0-for-16 during his stint with Miami, but fast forward to last night's match-up against the Heat before an announced crowd of 15,874 at Time Warner Cable Arena, as it was "Big Al" Jefferson that turned out to be the star of the show for the Charlotte Hornets as his 28 points and 10 rebounds helped Charlotte snap its 16-game regular season losing streak against Miami thanks to a 96-86 win, improving the Hornets to 2-3, while Miami drops to 3-2.

"It's good to get the monkey off our back." said Hornets guard Kemba Walker, who seen it happen in his previous 16 tries in a Charlotte uniform, and was very fortunate for the Hornets to defeat Miami.

Jefferson had a stiff battle in the paint last night, as Miami would send out Shawne Williams and Justin Hamilton to slow him down, but "Big Al" would out-power them time after time to get the upper hand for the Hornets. "I feel like Birdman(Chris Andersen) is a guy who gives me a challenge because he's a little taller, but all the guys out there today I felt like I had an advantage." quoted Jefferson.

Charlotte would finish the game shooting 42.7% from the field, as they also got some double-figure scoring from Kemba Walker and his 18 point performance while Cody Zeller saw some good minutes off the bench for the Hornets with 13 points, and despite only scoring 8 points, Lance Stephenson would be the leading rebounder for the Hornets with 13 on the night to contribute to the Hornets effort in the rebound department with a 49-36 margin.

Miami would get a good showing from Dwyane Wade as he led the Heat with 25 points, and despite the loss, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was encouraged with how Wade put in the effort last night. "I've been very encouraged by his commitment."  Chris Bosh was the other Heat player that reached double figures with 23 points to go with 13 rebounds.

Next up on the agenda for the Charlotte Hornets will be another Southeast Division matchup against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night at "The Hive", before the Hornets hit the road for their first West Coast trip of the year starting on Sunday night in Los Angeles against the Lakers.