Hornets vs. Heat: Game 1 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

The Miami Heat never looked back after a hot start against the Charlotte Hornets in Game 1 of the 2016 NBA playoffs' first round. The Southeast Division champions took a 1-0 series lead following a 123-91 win at home Sunday in AmericanAirlines Arena.

Luol Deng missed just two of his 13 field-goal attempts, scoring 31 points—one of five Heat players to score in double figures. He added seven rebounds to his strong all-around performance.

According to the team's Twitter account, the Heat's scoring output is a franchise postseason record.

The Hornets' offensive numbers weren't too bad (43.1 FG%, 35.3 3PT%, 11 TO), but their porous defense undid all of that work.  

For Hornets fans, the sting of defeat is made worse by the fact they watched Justise Winslow put in work on both ends of the floor. Charlotte passed on the chance to select Winslow in the first round of last year's draft, taking Frank Kaminsky one spot before instead.

Seeing Winslow blow by Kaminsky with a Eurostep in the second quarter was like watching a replay of Los Angeles Raiders running back Bo Jackson run right through Seattle Seahawks linebacker Brian Bosworth during that famous 1987 Monday Night Football game:

That play summed up what was a dreadful first half for the Hornets. Although Charlotte scored 50 points and shot a healthy 46.4 percent from the field through the first two quarters, it allowed Miami to connect on 58.1 percent of its field-goal opportunities. The Heat also owned a staggering 23-9 rebounding advantage and outscored the Hornets, 32-18, in the paint.

SB Nation's Mike Prada praised Hassan Whiteside's work defensively there:

Neither Marvin Williams nor Al Jefferson had much success stopping Whiteside on the offensive end, either, especially on this two-handed jam at the 5:20 mark of the first quarter, via NBA TV:

NBA on TNT's Shaquille O'Neal analyzed some of Whiteside's positives and negatives from the first half, via Turner Sports PR:

Whiteside finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. CBSSports.com's Zach Harper foresees the Heat big man, an unrestricted free agent this summer, using his performance Sunday to help cash in with his next deal:

Miami kept its foot on the gas to start the second half and continued to pound the ball inside, ending the third quarter with a 23-point lead, 97-74. ESPN Stats & Info highlighted the massive advantage the Heat owned in the paint:

Even Amar'e Stoudemire turned back the clock to his Phoenix Suns days when he put Cody Zeller in the spin cycle:

Despite this only being the first game, CBSSports.com's Matt Moore is already waving the white flag for Charlotte:

The Miami Herald's Ethan J. Skolnick also thought Miami addressed one of its biggest concerns entering the playoffs:

While the Heat thoroughly outclassed the Hornets on Sunday, the series is far from over. Game 2 isn't until Wednesday, leaving Charlotte with some time to recover from this defeat. Head coach Steve Clifford will have to go back to the drawing board and devise a new game plan to ensure his team doesn't concede so much ground inside.

Evening the series and snatching home-court advantage would provide a huge momentum boost to the Hornets. But falling behind 0-2 wouldn't be fatal for Charlotte, since it would have an opportunity to knot the series at home in the next two games.

Postgame Reaction

Clifford isn't going to let the Heat's massive margin of victory impact his thought process ahead of Game 2, per Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer: "Whether you lose by 30 or one, it's 1-0. So we lost one game."

He also dismissed any notion he's going to tweak his starting lineup, specifically replacing Zeller with Al Jefferson.

"I wouldn't see the point in changing our lineup right now," Clifford said. "Not to be disrespectful, but I know our team."

For Kemba Walker, the Hornets' problem was less the coach's tactical plan and more about how well he and his teammates executed it, via NBA TV:

"We just knew it was time to play Miami Heat basketball," said Whiteside, per ESPN.com's Michael Wallace. "We’re in the playoffs. It’s all or nothing. Just leave it all out there. We came out and played our hearts out as a team. We’re just going to try to keep it rolling."