After suffering a pair of lopsided losses at home, the Miami Heat Try to stave off elimination when they visit the Charlotte Hornets in Friday's lone NBA playoff game. Charlotte won the opener, 106-80, on Saturday. They rallied to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round and advanced to the NBA Finals before losing to the Chicago Bulls. Charlotte's dominance in the series has surprised just about everyone but Jamal Mashburn, who scored 22 points on Monday against his former club. We play extremely well together.
Charlotte can complete the first playoff sweep in franchise history.
The Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers were the winners in Thursday's playoff games. Vince Carter had his first solid postseason performance, scoring 22 points as the Raptors surprised the New York Knicks, 94-74, and evened their Eastern Conference series at one game apiece. Carter had struggled in his first four career playoff games and the Raptors had lost all four. But he overcame a slow start and scored 16 points after halftime, when the Raptors pulled away. Game Three is Sunday in Toronto.