MIAMI _ If nothing else, the Miami Heat will make their fans sweat this season.
Playing to the wire, just as they had in their first two games, the Heat stormed back from a 26-point third-quarter deficit Saturday night against the Charlotte Hornets at AmericanAirlines Arena only to fall, 113-112, on a Kemba Walker free throw with five-tenths of a second to play.
On opening night it was a loss decided by a final-seconds turnover by Josh Richardson against the Orlando Magic. The following night, it was a Kelly Olynyk tip-in in the final second to beat the Washington Wizards.
"Our guys will keep digging, scratching and crawling," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
This time, it was the final second that did in the Heat, with Rodney McGruder called for the foul that sent Walker to the line with that half second to play.
"I apologized to Rodney. I thought he did a great job there at the end," Spoelstra said of that late whistle. "To have a game like that, it was unfortunate. It looked like a game that should have gone into overtime.
"I think he did it with great, great technique."
Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 21 points, with Goran Dragic scoring 20, McGruder 19 and Hassan Whiteside grabbing 15 rebounds. Walker led the Hornets with 39 points.
"The other thing I mentioned to this team, 'We're going to be just fine,' " Spoelstra said.
Left for dead midway through the third period, when Richardson was on the bench with five fouls and the Hornets were up 26, the Heat stormed back within 92-82 going into the fourth quarter, closing the third on a 23-8 run.
Dragic sparked the third-quarter rally with 13 points in the period, with Whiteside grabbing eight rebounds.
In the final minutes, two Whiteside free throws brought the Heat within 110-107, with a McGruder driving floater pulling the Heat within111-110 with 45.2 seconds to play.
Eventually, the Heat wound up a possession down _ 112-110 _ with 24.7 seconds to play.
The Heat then went to Wade, who followed his own miss with a put-back with 12.3 seconds to play to tie it at 112, setting up the drive when Walker was fouled.
