Hornets guard Baron Davis may have been on song offensively in the last two games - ironically both Hornets wins - but Heat coach Stan Van Gundy is sticking by his guns and says he doesn't plan to change how the team defends Davis.

"He's a point guard; you're not going to limit his touches," Van Gundy said. "I think we've done a pretty good job on him, contrary to what you guys may think. Look at his numbers and what he normally does during the regular season. Look at his numbers now, and we've done a decent job."

With neither team winning on the road during the playoffs and the series moving back to Miami, Hornets point guard Darrell Armstrong expects to see more physical play from the Miami Heat in Game 5.

Armstrong is also hopeful that his New Orlean's teammates can match the intensity, making for a fierce battle in a game which could make or break a team's playoff ambitions.

"Guys are going to be battling trying to get rebounds and block shots, and some are going to be diving on the floor for loose balls and getting in front of people to force (offensive) charging fouls," Armstrong said. "I just hope most of it comes from us."

LSU freshman forward Brandon Bass plans to throw his name into this year's NBA Draft but he will not hire agent to leave open the possibility of returning to school.

Here is his statement from a press release on Tuesday.

I have decided to enter my name in the NBA draft, but not enter any agreement with an agent, which will enable me to return to LSU for my sophomore year," Bass said in the release. "I just feel I need to see where I might be drafted, because I owe it to myself and my family. If I am not (projected as) a top-20 selection, I will certainly be back at LSU looking forward to winning the SEC and going deep in the NCAA Tournament."

Bass averaged 12.8 points along with 7.4 rebounds and was selected. SEC Freshman of the Year.

RealGM's NBA Draft affiliate DraftCity.com has Bass going 13th overall in their 2005 Mock Draft.

As quickly as Lamar Odom was able to get his game going against New Orleans, the Hornets were able to nutrelize him.

With Game 3 getting tighter in the fourth quarter and Odom starting to dominate, the Heat's key forward was forced from the court with a bloodied and swolen eye after being the recipient of an inadvertant elbow from star Hornet Baron Davis.  Odom would miss five minutes of action and receive six stitches for his trouble before returning, but would be relatively unaffective with his limited vision.

''I was feeling great, and to go out with that type of injury [after] I had just hit a shot and gotten my team back in the game,'' Odom said, shaking his head.

``I was ready to stay out there.''

''I was mad,'' said Odom. ``. . . I was frustrated because I started to feel myself getting in a rhythm, my team was starting to feel it, Caron Butler was playing awesome, then I have to come in here and get stitches in my face. I wasn't too pleased about that. But it's part of the game. It happens.''

The Heat knew the New Orleans Hornets would try to win Saturday's Game 3 in bar-fight fashion, wrote the Miami Herald's Israel Gutierrez, but not even they were expecting this.  The Hornet's defense halted the Heat in their tracks in the first half as New Orleans opened up a double digit lead before holding on.  The Heat shot a franchise playoff low 32.9 percent from the field, led by  a 3-for-21 effort of their starting backcourt of Eddie Jones and Dwayne Wade, while injured Hornets star Baron Davis controlled proceedings.

''It was that and then some,'' said Caron Butler. ``They shocked us.''

''I thought our mind-set to start the game was a major problem,'' Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``We tried to prepare them for three days on how hard somebody would come at you at home down 2-0, but we seemed very surprised by the fact that they were up and into us and very physical.''

New Orleans' P.J. Brown was awarded with the NBA's Sportsmanship Award before his Hornets took on the Miami Heat in a must win game.

Brown, a finalist in each of the past three seasons after being a Central Division winner, beat out the Los Angeles Clippers' Elton Brand (1,139), the Memphis Grizzlies' Shane Battier (985) and the New Jersey Nets' Kerry Kittles (880) to take the award.  Brown finished with 1,220 of a possible 1,320 points.

The trophy, named after Joe Dumars, honors a player who exemplified the ideals of sportsmanship on the court, ethical behavior and fair play.

Is anyone seriously expecting Tim Floyd to be back in New Orleans next year?

Taking into account the fact that Hornets co-owner George Shinn said before Game 2 on Wednesday that he could not say whether coach Tim Floyd will return next season, it would be easy to presume that his mind would be all but made up after seeing the debacle on the court as his team was embarrassed in defeat, eventually falling by a 30 point margin.

''The decision hasn't been made,'' Shinn said before the game. ``At the end of each season we evaluate everybody. Tim is a wonderful person. We'll have to wait and see. If we win a couple rounds, that might answer the question.''

As the old clich? goes defense wins championships, and if the clinic that the Heat put on against the lethargic New Orleans Hornets is anything to go by Miami are certainly on the right path.

As Israel Gutierrez of the Miami Herald puts it the Heat 'demoralizing a suddenly aging New Orleans team with consistent defense, aggressive offense and major contributions from all five starters.'

The outcome?  Try a 30 point win and more importantly a 2-0 lead in the best of seven series.

It's the first time the Heat has taken a 2-0 lead in a best-of-7 series. This is the Heat's fourth seven-game series in its 16 years.

''It's a confidence boost knowing how we did it,'' said Eddie Jones.

``The only thing we did spectacular was play great defense. We knew Game 1 that we didn't play the kind of basketball we wanted to play. We didn't move the ball, we had a lot of turnovers and just didn't make good decisions.''

The Miami Heat's return to the postseason proved a success in dramatic fashion Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena, and the team's hero was a player making his debut on this biggest of stages.

Dwyane Wade, Miami's rookie guard, hit a driving shot with 1.3 seconds left to give the Heat an 81-79 victory over the New Orleans Hornets, giving the Heat a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Heat, playing timidly and looking disjointed in the first half, roared to life in the third quarter to quickly turn a 44-41 halftime deficit into a seven-point lead heading into the final period.

Jamaal Magloire has spent much of this season quieting doubters.

When the Hornets open their first-round playoff series Sunday against the Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena, the 6-foot-11 New Orleans center will only find believers.

"He's aggressive, physical and I know I'm going to get that from him every time I see him," Heat center Brian Grant said Friday. "Some guys, you might see it sometimes, but you always get it from him."

"I've seen a tremendous improvement in his offensive game, especially," said Heat reserve forward Udonis Haslem, who faced Magliore in College. "He's scoring a lot better than he did in college. In college, he just rebounded, he had long arms. I've even seen him pull up and shoot a couple of `J's that actually look good."