There were signs of the Miami Heat's dominance littered throughout Sunday's Game 1 win over the Charlotte Hornets, but the fact that the Heat scored their 100th point on a free throw with 10:37 left in the game served as good an indicator as any.
The Heat trounced the Hornets 123-91 in the opening game of their first-round series after Luol Deng scored 31 points on 11-of-13 shooting. Center Hassan Whiteside was a game-changer, yet again, finishing with a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double in his postseason debut as the Heat shot 57% from the field. Even Amare Stoudemire had a memorable fourth quarter with a pretty baseline fadeaway followed shortly thereafter by a powerful jam past Hornets C Cody Zeller.
Without Chris Bosh, the Heat have developed a pace-and-space synergy that works with newcomer Joe Johnson at the three and Deng playing an inside-out style. The latter stretched Charlotte's defense while knocking down 4 of 6 three-pointers. The lineup also complements athletic rookie Justise Winslow, who looked more like a postseason veteran than someone making his playoff debut.
At one point early in the second quarter, Winslow took one of Goran Dragic's 10 assists and bewildered Zeller with a Wade-esque Eurostep. The move even prompted Wade into a jubilant, approving dance.
Miami's defense kept Charlotte's Kemba-Walker-based offense out of snyc all afternoon. Walker finished with 19 points, but was hardly the pivot point the Hornets have come to rely on. By halftime it was 67-50, and the Hornets looked entirely overmatched.
2016 Playoffs: Best of the first round
