Hornets Finish Off Heat

Jamal Mashburn and the Charlotte Hornets had the last laugh. Pat Riley and the Miami Heat are headed for another long off-season.

Mashburn, acquired from Miami in a nine-player off-season deal, got the best of his former team by scoring 21 points to lead the headband-wearing Hornets to a 94-79 victory Friday night at Charlotte, N.C., completing a stunning three-game sweep.

“Sure, it’s gratifying,” said Mashburn, who set personal playoff bests with nine rebounds and eight assists.

“I’m not going to sit here and lie and say I didn’t want to do this the whole series. I did want to sweep them and prove a point and I think I proved it.”

Baron Davis also scored 21 in front of a raucous crowd of 22,283, and Miami was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth time in Riley’s six years as the Heat’s coach.

Charlotte won the three games by a total of 67 points, and held Miami to a record-low 235 for the series. The old record for fewest points in a three-game playoff series was 239.

“It was no contest, we were outcoached, outran, outjumped, everything,” Riley said.

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One day after playing 31 of the most unproductive minutes of his career, Marcus Camby missed practice Friday for personal reasons. His status for New York’s Game 3 against Toronto is uncertain. Camby had a poor game Thursday night, three days after his mother and two sisters were held hostage at their home in Connecticut.

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Six Phoenix Sun players are helping make sure the team plays in front of sellout crowds at home in their first-round playoff series against Sacramento. Jason Kidd, Tom Gugliotta, Penny Hardaway, Shawn Marion, Cliff Robinson and Chris Dudley have purchased about 4,000 tickets for Game 3 Sunday and Game 4 Wednesday and will distribute them to disadvantaged youngsters through area charities.

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Utah Jazz guard John Starks missed Friday’s practice and won’t make the trip to Dallas for Game 3 of their playoff series with the Mavericks. Starks, 35, is recovering from surgery to remove a twisted testicle.