Charlotte Hornets (2-1) beat Miami Heat (0-3) 115-110 at home on Saturday, October 24.
How it unfolded
The Hornets led by 8 at halftime and by 21 through three quarters, finishing with a 5-point win.
What decided it
The Hornets recovered 25.6% of their own misses against 18.6% for the Heat and the Hornets shot 52.9% on an effective basis to 50.6% for the Heat. Extra possessions add up quickly over 48 minutes.
The Heat did win one battle, ball security: TOV% of 12.7 against 14.6. The Hornets made up for it elsewhere.
The game played at about 103 possessions per team. The Hornets scored 112.2 points per 100 possessions and the Heat scored 107.3, a difference of 4.9.
The Heat's reserves also made a difference, outscoring the opposing bench 26-13.
Who made the difference
Davion Mitchell (MIA) posted the best line of the night by Game Score (21.6): 22 pts, 1 reb, 10 ast on 8-13 shooting. The team was +7 in the minutes Davion played.
For the Hornets, Brandon Miller was the best of the rest at 18.9: 34 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast on 10-29 shooting.
Davion Mitchell (22 pts, 1 reb, 10 ast) recorded a double-double.
Game Score is a single number that weighs points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, shooting efficiency, fouls and turnovers. It is not an official stat, just a quick way to rank lines.
What it means
The result fit the pre-game Win Meter, which gave the Hornets about a 72% chance.
Across the last 9 meetings in our records, Miami Heat lead 6-3.
The Hornets are now 2-1, and the Heat are 0-3. The Hornets last five before this game: W-W-L-W-L.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.