Heat-Hornets series poised to go the distance

These two teams matched up pretty evenly in their four games during the regular season, with the series tied up 2-2.

Also this is the 3-6 matchup with Miami having home court advantage, but both the Heat and Hornets finished the regular season with a record of 48-34.

They had the seventh-best defense in the league, allowing 101.5 points per 100 possessions, and with Hassan Whiteside (the league leader in blocks, averaging 3.7 a game) manning the middle, it is tough to score near the rim against the Heat.

Offensively, the Heat still have Wade, who had another All-Star season with averages of 19.0 points (on 46 percent shooting) and 4.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds.

Johnson is also older but an effective scorer, capable of going on runs all by himself and since joining the Heat, he is averaging 13.4 points on 51.8 percent shooting and 41.7 from three.

He has played well against the Heat this season, averaging 19.5 points and 5.3 assists with just .8 turnovers.

But if he can bring his averages up, especially scoring, Charlotte will be in a good spot against the Heat.

Walker also had one of the highest scoring games in the NBA this season, scoring 52 points against the Jazz in January.

With solid 3-point shooters like Nicolas Batum (35 percent), Marvin Williams (40 percent), Courtney Lee (39 percent) and Kemba Walker (37 percent), Charlotte’s offense increased by 7.4 points from last season (ninth overall, scoring 105.1 points per 100 possessions).