NBA Preview: New Orleans Hornets Vs. Miami Heat

After a rough preseason, the New Orleans Hornets have looked much better in the regular season, jumping out to a 3-0 record distinguished by surprisingly good defense and bench contributions.  It’s still early, but Hornets fans are undoubtedly viewing this Friday’s game with the Miami Heat as a chance to verify the team’s legitimacy.

The Hornets’ sole preseason victory came against the Heat, but this time the superstar trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are fully healthy and available to execute a dominant defense that leads the league with just 80 points allowed per game.

But notching a "W" this Friday, against a team that could be labeled the Eastern Conference All-Stars with different jerseys, isn’t as daunting as it sounds. Here’s why.

Head coach Monty Williams has put a heightened premium on tough defense, rakning the Bees fourth in total defense with 92 points allowed per game.  The Hornets consistently create turnovers, something James has struggled with since “bringing his talents to South Beach,” and Trevor Ariza is a premiere one-on-one defender.  David West’s size disadvantage at power forward shouldn’t be problematic if he can rebound with Bosh, and perimeter defense isn’t as crucial with Heat sharpshooter Mike Miller injured.

Guarding Wade will probably bethe biggest challenge.  Chris Paul’s quickness makes him the most plausible candidate in a man-to-man scheme, but with his height disadvantage (6'0" to Wade’s 6'4"), it’s reasonable to expect a little zone in there too.  With Miller out, James and Wade comprise the outside shooting threat; the Hornets just need to make them prove it by preventing them from driving the lane and getting clean shots.

Offensively, James and Wade are two of the best finishers in the game, and if they start getting easy looks within 15 feet or so, the score could get real lopsided real fast.  The partial zone scheme can help with that, assuming Ariza guards LeBron man-to-man, but if the Hornets don’t rebound better than they have been, it will all be for naught.

Neither team crashes the boards particularly well: Both rank in the lower half of the league.  But with each side’s athleticism, dominating the defensive boards to help run the floor and score in transition (something LeBron seems to have written the book on) could be the difference maker.

Offensive rebounds are also important to the Hornets’ success; they need to win the possession battle by keeping the ball in Chris Paul’s hands and letting him make plays.  But New Orleans currently ranks only 29th in offensive rebounding (although Miami is just 27th).

Paul also needs Marco Belinelli and Marcus Thornton to spread the Heat defense with effective three-point shooting.  Both shooting guards have struggled early from mid-range and beyond the arc, something the Hornets can ill afford without better offensive rebounding. 

Miami plays with style and flash, but as the Celtics revealed last week, the Heat don’t match up well against teams with size.  Granted, the Hornets’ big men of Emeka Okafor and Jason Smith aren’t offensively dominant underneath like Shaq or Jermaine O’Neal, but they can play hard-nosed defense and rebound.  If they do that, it will help the offense by giving Paul time to make plays without feeling like he needs three points on every possession.

At the end of the day, however, it’s only one game of an 82-game season.  But all the theatrics surrounding the Big Three have led to the Heat having more targets on them than a police shooting range in Texas.  Everyone wants to beat them, and if New Orleans pulls it out, it could seriously validate the team’s early success.