Hornets claw back against the Heat

Baron Davis scored 21 points and David Wesley added 18, leading the New Orleans Hornets to a 77-71 win over the Miami Heat in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final series Saturday afternoon.

Jamaal Magloire added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who now trail the best-of-seven set two games to one with Game 4 scheduled for Tuesday in New Orleans.

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Caron Butler paced the Heat with a game-high 24 points and 15 boards. Lamar Odom had 18 points and Rafer Alston chipped in 10 for Miami, which is appearing in the postseason for the first time since 2001. The Heat also have never lost a playoff series when they won the first two games.

New Orleans jumped out to an early 10-point lead after Davis' jumper staked the Hornets to a 15-5 cushion. Miami, though, scored nine of the next 13 points to pull within 19-14 after 12 minutes of play.

Davis buried a three-pointer five minutes into the second quarter and the Hornets had a 28-19 lead. The Heat got within four points twice after that but trailed by a 41-29 score at halftime.

Davis led all scorers at the break with 17 points, while Alston paced the Heat with eight.

Wesley knocked down a three-pointer early in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 44-35. New Orleans later grabbed a 53-41 lead on a P.J. Brown basket.

Miami, though, ended the quarter on a 9-4 run and trailed 57-50 after 36 minutes of action.

Odom's basket almost four minutes into the fourth quarter made it a four-point game again at 61-57. New Orleans later grabbed some breathing room after Wesley's field goal made it 67-59.

The Heat wouldn't go down easy as Udonis Haslem's jumper with 3 1/2 minutes to go closed the gap to four at 69-65. Miami later made it a two-point game at 71-69 on two free throws by Butler.

After a New Orleans basket, Butler buried two more foul shots with 1:47 left and the lead was 73-71. Butler then missed on a three-point try and New Orleans took over.

With 55.2 seconds on the clock, Magloire was fouled and sank both attempts for a 75-71 edge. Alston and Eddie Jones both missed three-point attempts down the stretch and Stacey Augmon's free throws with 6.6 seconds left sealed the win.