Last week in NBA circles on Twitter, there was a lot of back and forth on who should win the Sixth Man of the Year award. The race was wide open, and you could’ve made a case for almost a dozen different dudes. If I had a vote, I would’ve cast it for Andre Iguodala; ultimately, Jamal Crawford of the Clippers won for a third time — just edging out Iggy.
During these discussions, however, there was little to no chatter about the Charlotte Hornet’s top sub, Jeremy Lin. The product of Harvard has been terrific during his first year with the franchise, and that continued Monday night in Charlotte, when Lin erupted for 21 points (on just 10 shots) in an 89-85 victory over Miami, which levels their first round affair at 2-2.
(Note: Lin finished 7th in voting for the honor, receiving one first place vote, courtesy of Sherman Hamilton of NBA TV Canada)
Once again, the Heat outplayed the Hornets in the first quarter. Luol Deng continued his one-man assault on these playoffs with 10 points in the opening frame; Deng constantly went at whichever Hornets big was tossed in his direction — Frank Kaminsky, Cody Zeller, whatever. Steve Clifford deployed the two traditional big men look again last night for the vast majority of the game, moving Marvin Williams to small forward. And for the second straight time, it worked.
Everything changed in a blink during the second quarter. Charlotte trailed Miami 26-19 after the opening period, but the Hornets bench helped lead a roaring charge back. Over the next 14 minutes and 33 seconds of game play, Charlotte ripped off a 38 to 13 run, culminating with an Al Jefferson layup that had Time Warner Cable Arena rocking. Charlotte led 57-40, which was their high-water mark.
Lin played a little over nine minutes in the second quarter; during that span, the Hornets scored 123.4 points per 100 possessions, and held the Heat to a meager 49.8 points per 100 possessions. Kemba Walker was special during this quarter, too. With Kemba on the floor, Charlotte scored at a rate of 1.38 points per possession.
For the game, the Hornets were +17 with Lin on the floor.
While Miami built a house out of bricks during this period — shooting 3 for 19 — the dual-point guard lineup of Walker and Lin (sounds like a decent law firm, for the record) raced away in the opposite direction. The two speedsters wrecked havoc in the pick-and-roll game and in transition, combining for 55 points and just four turnovers (Walker scored 34 of those points, making him the first Hornet to score 30+ in a playoff games since Baron Davis in 2002). That combination of controlled aggression is incredibly difficult to harness, but Charlotte’s guards worked their magic Monday evening.
Lin and Kemba shared the court for 26 minutes in Game 4; in that stretch of time, Charlotte outscored Miami by 14.5 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. The Hornets continued to struggle from beyond the arc — making just 4 of 17 3-pointers — but these two were so deadly efficient in pick-and-roll action that it prevented Charlotte’s offense from cratering.
All night long, Walker and Lin were impervious to the conservative one-man zone schemes Miami utilized. In their coverages, Heat big men were sinking under these ball screens; this is done in an effort to coax the ball handler into settling for a jumper. Charlotte, however, was having none of that. Kemba channeled his inner Russell Westbrook and went right at Miami’s bigs, while Lin got into the paint at will. Walker scored 11 consecutive points during the fourth quarter.
When Miami’s Hassan Whiteside hits the bench, a light goes off for Lin, attack. For the second straight game, the Hornets were without forward Nicolas Batum — a fearless playmaker who has a knack for finding open shooters. In his absence, Lin has more than stepped up, which should benefit him financially in about two months: Jeremy has a player option at $2.2 million next season. However, if he declines that option, he’ll hit unrestricted free agency as one of the league’s elite backup point guards.
After the game, Clifford couldn’t have been more proud of his team for figuring out a way to score points. So I’m not going as far as to say Charlotte’s solved Miami’s pick-and-roll defense, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some adjustments when this series swings south for Game 5.
Lin wasn’t the only substitute to have an impact on Monday, though. Zeller has embraced his role of coming off the bench now. By some metrics — offensive (111.2) and net rating (39.7) — Zeller was Charlotte’s best player in Game 4. These contributions were necessary because once more Marvin Williams struggled: 0 of 5 shooting, 0 points — his second game with no points this series (he has 14 total points through four games). Zeller was strong defensively as well.
On Miami’s end, they need to summon the energy they brought late in the third quarter and the early part of the fourth quarter — when they rallied furiously to make the contest a one-point affair at 62-61 — for an entire game. Goran Dragic, who spent most of the game missing in action, started making things happen, including a massive 3-pointer as Miami clawed their way back into the game.
It’s also clear that they need Deng to remain productive, and to be more than just a first quarter catalyst. In 20 minutes of action during the second and third quarters, Deng was just 1 for 8 from the field; Miami was -11 during that stretch, too.
Charlotte mostly ignored rookie Justise Winslow when Miami was on offense. Winslow, who is already a sensational defender, has a ways to go offensively. The Hornets stashed their slowest defender on Winslow, and for most of the night, that worked. Heading into the fourth, Winslow was 0 for 5 from the field as he tried to shoot over the top of Charlotte’s relaxed defenders. However, in the final period, Winslow attacked this coverage, driving right into the body of Hornets defenders, James Harden style. He was a perfect 3 for 3 from the field, including a corner 3-pointer. This is something to monitor in Game 5.
Finally, it’d be remiss to write a recap of this game without mentioning Courtney Lee, who once again brought productive two-way play. Lee played a team-high 41 minutes; he also led the Hornets in distance covered (3.06 miles), according to NBA.com’s player tracking. Lee was everywhere defensively — contesting a team-high 12 shots, including eight 2-pointers. Most pertinent, though, Lee collected a super important offensive rebound with 58 seconds left, then on the next possession, following a Kemba miss, Lee sprang for another rebound and drew a foul on Deng. C-Lee then made two free-throws, which put the game on ice.
The first two games of this series were ugly for the Hornets. But after last night’s thrilling home victory, Charlotte’s evened this series at two games apiece. Game 5 is Wednesday night in South Beach. See you there.