MIAMI _ It wasn't pretty at the start and certainly wasn't without its warts. But after consecutive ugly losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks, the Miami Heat weren't looking for style points.
Just a victory.
With Josh Richardson stepping up with a career-high 27 points and Dion Waiters draining a pair of clutch fourth-quarter 3-pointers, the Heat overcame a 16-1 deficit at the outset and 22 turnovers to move to .500, at 11-11, with a 105-100 victory.
Both teams were shorthanded, the Heat without center Hassan Whiteside, due to another bone bruise on his left knee, and the Hornets without starting point guard Kemba Walker for a second consecutive game, due to a shoulder issue.
It led to uneven play from both teams, with the Hornets closing with 22 turnovers.
A Waiters 3-pointer with 5:29 to play tied it 88-88. Waiters had been 4 of 12 to that stage.
The Hornets then went up 90-88 on a pair of free throws from reserve center Cody Zeller, with James Johnson tying it 90-90 on a jumper with 4:08 left.
Johnson's fourth foul followed, but Zeller went back on the line, where he made both free throws for a 92-90 Charlotte lead. And, again, Johnson countered with a tying jumper, with 3:41 left.
Zeller continued his inside work with a follow-up basket for a 94-92 Charlotte lead, this time with Richardson countering with a driving layup with 2:47 to play. Fouled on the play, Richardson's free throw put the Heat up 95-94.
The Heat fouls continued, sending Michael Carter-Williams to the line with 2:36 left. He made both for a 96-95 Charlotte lead.
But that's when Goran Dragic, 2 of 11 to that point, drained a step-back jumper for a 97-96 Heat lead.
After a Charlotte miss, Johnson again scored on an aggressive attempt to push the Heat to a 99-96 lead with 1:46 to play.
Another Heat defensive stand followed, with another Waiters 3-pointer putting the Heat up 102-96 with 69 seconds to play.
Richardson then built on his career night with a jumper to put the Heat up 104-96 with 46.8 seconds to play.
Then it again got muddled, first with Jeremy Lamb scoring to draw Charlotte within 104-98 and then Charlotte forcing a jump ball on a tie-up.
The Heat won that jump, but Waiters missed a pair of free throws, with a Frank Kaminsky dunk with 17.5 seconds left pulling Charlotte within 104-100, with the Heat holding on from there.
With Richardson scoring 11 third-quarter points, the Heat went into the fourth up 79-75, closing the third on an 8-2 run.
The Heat at that stage were up to 18 turnovers, with the Hornets at 19, in a game loaded with offensive fouls.
Hornets center Dwight Howard was called for his fourth foul just 55 seconds into the second half, with Charlotte coach Steve Clifford leaving him in the game. That gambit failed when Howard was called for his fifth foul with 7:39 to play in the third period and removed.
The Heat climbed out of an early 15-point hold to move to a 50-49 halftime lead, sparked by Wayne Ellington's 4-of-6 3-point shooting.
Both teams were erratic over the opening 24 minutes, the Heat with 12 first-half turnovers, the Hornets with 15.
It certainly was not the start the Heat were looking for after being pummeled in the first half of each of their previous two games, this time down 16-1 after an 0-for-11 start from the field. That included 0 for 5 by Dragic and 0 for 3 from Waiters.
The Heat's first substitutions did not come until after that 15-point deficit.
The Heat first basket was a driving layup by Richardson with 5:45 left in the first period, after James Johnson and Tyler Johnson entered as the Heat's first substitutes.
Later, when Tyler Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 4:57 left in the opening period, it doubled the Heat's scoring total.
That opening period ended with the Heat down 30-22, at 7 of 21 in the quarter, compared to the Hornets' 11 of 18.
It was the first game of the four-game season series. The Heat split the four games last season, including splitting the two matchups in Miami.
The Hornets entered having won three of the previous five regular-season meetings.
The Heat entered 4-5 at home, with this the start of a two-game homestand that concludes Sunday with the Golden State Warriors' lone visit of the season.
The Heat were coming off Wednesday's season-worst 115-86 loss in New York, having lost two in a row after winning their previous three.
The game concluded a two-game trip for the Hornets, who were coming off Wednesday's 126-113 loss in Toronto, on a three-game losing streak after winning their previous three.
