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Home cooking Hornets beat Heat 83-73 to earn right to host first round
Posted: Thursday April 20, 2000 03:00 AM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Only a month ago, the Charlotte Hornets were stuck in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings and fighting to stay in the playoff race. But the Hornets closed out the regular season on a torrid stretch and used an 83-73 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night to clinch the fourth seed in the East and deny Pat Riley his 1,000th career coaching victory. "It is gratifying to me that my guys stuck with me and never quit," said Charlotte coach Paul Silas. "We all had to be strong and it turned out to be a great year. We still have work to do, but we're going to enjoy this for a while." The Hornets struggled after team captain Bobby Phills was killed in a Jan. 12 car accident, losing 15 of 32 games while dropping into seventh place in the East on March 20. But since then, they've won 14 of 16 and seven in a row to move into fourth place. Charlotte will play the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs.
"We've been through a lot of adversity this season, but we're professionals and had to start getting ourselves up for games," said Anthony Mason, who scored 14 points Wednesday. "It took extra work to make the playoffs, coming in early and working late." Riley, who has a 999-434 regular-season record, will have to wait to join Atlanta's Lenny Wilkens as the only NBA coaches with 1,000 victories. Wilkens has 1,179. Riley, who also has an NBA record 149 playoff coaching victories, said he wasn't concerned with the milestone victory. "Ask me about it next year," he said. "I wanted to win the game the same way I want to win every game." Charlotte held the Heat to 40 percent shooting, only 12 offensive rebounds and 3-of-12 shooting on 3-pointers. "We did not attack anything we discussed," Riley said. "The ball simply did not move -- it stuck in our hands on the double team and we did not swing the ball well at all." Miami trailed 59-53 at the end of the third quarter, but Riley sat Alonzo Mourning for the entire fourth quarter. His absence allowed Charlotte to take control of the boards -- the Hornets outrebounded Miami 9-5 in the fourth quarter -- and move through the lane at ease. Mason, Eddie Jones and Brad Miller hit consecutive layups to give Charlotte a 65-55 lead, and the Heat never challenged again. Mourning, who was icing his ankle after the game, said he wasn't injured and didn't know why he was taken out of the game. "I didn't pull myself out of the game, he did," Mourning said, motioning to Riley. "Ask him why he did it." Riley said he never intended to play Mourning for the entire game. "Zo is ailing with a little bit of a minor injury," he said. "I wanted to win, but not at the expense of someone ailing. Once they got ahead by 10, I didn't want to take a chance." Jones scored 14 points for Charlotte. Eddie Robinson came off the bench to shoot 6-of-7 for 13 points, Derrick Coleman added 12 and Elden Campbell scored 11. Anthony Carter led Miami with 16 points. Jamal Mashburn had 15 and Mourning 13. Notes: Mason was given the Hornets' Hustle award before the game. The award is given to the player who hustles for rebounds, steals and blocked shots. ... Tim Hardaway didn't play for the second straight game because of sprained ankle. ... Norva Cobb, a 100-year-old fan from nearby Huntersville, N.C., attended her first-ever Hornets game Wednesday night and was allowed to sit courtside during the pregame shootaround. Players from both teams stopped to chat with her, pose for pictures and autograph her Hornets basketball.
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