Hornets vs. Heat: Game 5 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

As the old saying goes, a series doesn't start until a team wins a game on the road. Well, it appears things have finally gotten underway between the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets.   

Kemba Walker and Courtney Lee blocked a pair of shots in the waning seconds, allowing the Hornets to hold on for a 90-88 victory over the Heat on Wednesday at AmericanAirlines Arena. Charlotte holds a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and can advance with a win in Game 6 on Friday.

The final 10 seconds were perhaps the wildest of this year's first round. First, Walker got his hand on a Goran Dragic three attempt. The ball caromed into the hands of Dwyane Wade, who then appeared to get fouled as he tried tying the game. Lee and Cody Zeller combined to make the defensive play. 

Opinions, as they're wont to do, differed on whether Wade should have gotten the call:

Things only got weirder on the Hornets' subsequent inbounds play. Hornets forward Spencer Hawes threw an errant pass that initially appeared to go off a teammate. Replays showed the ball actually hit Wade last, allowing Charlotte to escape with a win. It's the first game of the series a road team has won after Miami and Charlotte split the first four games.

Marvin Williams scored a team-high 17 points for the Hornets on a night when their stars were not firing on all cylinders. Walker finished with a series-low 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting and was particularly bad during stretches of the second quarter, as Mike Prada of SB Nation noted:

Backcourt-mate Lee hit just two of his nine shots, but he was clutch when it counted. Lee hit what became the game-winning three with 25 seconds left after missing an easy layup that would have put Charlotte ahead. Prada said he was "happy" for Lee:

Nicolas Batum, making a return to the court after missing Games 3 and 4 with an ankle injury, was also obviously less than 100 percent. Batum missed four of his six shots, finishing with eight points, three rebounds and three assists. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer highlighted Batum's struggles:

Charlotte shot 39.3 percent overall from the field but was saved by a 12-of-24 mark from three-point range. Jeremy Lin also had a nice outing, posting 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds off the bench. The Heat, by contrast, hit five shots from deep and watched their bench go a combined 4-of-19 from the field. Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow scored all of Miami's 13 bench points.

As has been the case for most of the season, Miami's starters led its offensive effort. All five scored in double figures, led by 25 from Wade.

Wade was stellar at picking and choosing his spots, knocking down 11 of his 19 shots and taking over down the stretch. He was responsible for six of the Heat's final nine points. BBallBreakdown was impressed:

Luol Deng was second on the team with 16 points despite a 4-of-12 shooting night. Joe Johnson (13 points), Hassan Whiteside (11 points) and Goran Dragic (10 points) rounded out the double-digit scoring. Whiteside added 12 rebounds and three blocks for his fourth double-double in the series' five games. 

Going beyond the box score, the Heat look increasingly like a team on its last leg. This is perhaps the thinnest playoff team remaining outside of the Los Angeles Clippers, who are now without Blake Griffin and Chris Paul the rest of the way. Chris Bosh's continued absence looms large, and this was already a top-heavy lineup before head coach Erik Spoelstra pulled the plug on Amar'e Stoudemire on Wednesday.

Teams don't advance in the playoffs with the likes of Richardson having to play 31 minutes. Winslow, for as much of a defensive menace as he can be, doesn't garner any respect on the offensive end. He's hit five of his 21 shots over the last three games after a stellar start to the series.

A combined six points have separated the last two games, so the teams are close from a talent standpoint. But the margin for error is smaller for Miami. The Hornets have a deeper group of players and are banking on Walker becoming his old self in Game 6. It'd be a surprise at this point if this stretches to seven.

---

Post-Game Reaction

Lee spoke of his game-winning shot, per ESPN.com: "I felt I couldn't make a shot, but the biggest one went in."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra believes Wade got fouled: "Look, it never is decided by those plays, but from my vantage point [Wade] certainly looked like he got fouled."

As for another no-call, Hornets coach Steve Clifford was understandably more forgiving: "I don't know if [Zeller] got fouled or not, but it works for me."

Wade was frank about how his team can navigate the storm: "Figure out a way to get a win. It gets no tougher than that in the playoffs."

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.