Hornets’ Nicolas Batum to miss remainder of first round vs Heat

Charlotte Hornets’ small forward Nicolas Batum out with an injured ankle

Already down 2-0 to the Miami Heat, the Charlotte Hornets received more bad news on Thursday, learning they would be without starting small forward Nicolas Batum for the rest of their first round series. Batum left during the fourth quarter of Game 2 when he rolled his ankle while being defended by Heat rookie Justice Winslow on the perimeter.

Batum was averaging a career-high in points this season with 14.9 to go along with 6.1 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in his first year with the Hornets after spending the first seven years of his professional career with the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Hornets head back to Charlotte after dropping both games in Miami by a combined score of 238-194 with an average margin of defeat of 22 points. Head coach Steve Clifford’s team has been completely unable to stop the Heat from torching the nets in the first two games of this best-of-seven series and will now be without their best perimeter defender.

Miami is shooting a ridiculous 57.8% from the field, a mind-boggling 53.1% from three-point range, and have scored the most points of any playoff team thus far.

Charlotte is currently riding a 12-game playoff losing streak and are in danger of tying the New York Knicks (13 straight losses) for the most postseason games played without a victory in NBA history.

Game 3 with be played at the Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday, April 23rd at 5:30pm ET.

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