MIAMI – Heat star Dwyane Wade often can be heard saying at playoff time that a series hasn’t truly started until somebody wins on the home floor of its opponent.
Charlotte, Detroit and Portland probably can appreciate that sort of thinking.
A two-day break between their Game 1 road losses on Sunday and the Game 2’s that await when three series resume Wednesday night — Charlotte is at Miami, Detroit goes back to Cleveland and Portland visits the Los Angeles Clippers — means the Hornets, Pistons and Trail Blazers all have ample time to make adjustments.
“Two days in between games kind of helps to at least look at the game a few more times and decide what you want to do,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “We’re not going to reinvent ourselves in two days.”
Of course, it also means the Heat, Cavaliers and Clippers have plenty of time to anticipate what’s coming as well.
“Now you have to think ahead and try to see what, if you were in their position, what adjustments you would make and be prepared for that,” Wade said.
Expect great urgency from the road teams Wednesday, since it’s clear what an 0-2 deficit means in the postseason. Since 2008, 53 of the last 55 teams to win the first two games of an NBA playoff series have ultimately prevailed. No team has advanced after trailing 0-2 since Memphis against the Clippers in 2013.
___
Hornets at Heat, Miami leads 1-0. 7 p.m.
Charlotte has been exceptional at bouncing back from losses over the last three months or so, going 9-1 in the games immediately following a defeat since the end of January.
That resiliency will be put to the test in Game 2.
Not only was Sunday’s series-opening loss the Hornets’ worst of the season, but it was the franchise’s 11th straight playoff defeat overall and the most points given up by Charlotte in any of its last 115 non-overtime games.
“The things we made mistakes on are correctible,” Charlotte’s Marvin Williams said. “It wasn’t so much what Miami did — take nothing away from how they played, they played extremely well, they did what they’re supposed to do. But we didn’t play our best basketball. We know that.”
Luol Deng scored 31 for the Heat in Game 1, and Hassan Whiteside scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in his playoff debut. But Heat coach Erik Spoelstra doesn’t want his team thinking anything came easily.
“That’s the mental discipline,” Spoelstra said. “That is the playoffs, staying present and realizing reality versus a lot of noise. That’s what we have to manage right now.”
___
Pistons at Cavaliers, Cleveland leads 1-0. 8 p.m.
Detroit went home to work Monday and Tuesday, choosing the comforts of familiarity over hotel living for two extra days (and it’s only about a 30-minute flight, so it’s not like the extra travel grind would wear anyone out).
Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said his team would have some different wrinkles in Game 2.
“Look, I’m not smart enough to come up with anything real complex,” Van Gundy said. “It’s just different from what we’ve done.”
Detroit had a chance to steal the opener, leading by seven with 11 minutes left. Then LeBron James checked back into the game, and Cleveland outscored the Pistons 30-18 the rest of the way.
James has played on 15 teams that took 2-0 leads in playoff series. Those teams won all 15 times, six of those coming in sweeps.
Kyrie Irving (31), Kevin Love (28) and James (22) combined for 81 of Cleveland’s 106 points in the opener. The other six Cavs that played shot 10 for 25 from the floor, scoring 25 points combined. And further making it seem like it was a Pistons’ opportunity missed, Detroit fell to 13-2 this season in games where it shot 49 percent or better.
___
Trail Blazers at Clippers, Los Angeles leads 1-0. 10:30 p.m.
It might sound silly, but Portland lost by 20 and found a lot to like about the game.
The Blazers missed 50 of their 83 shots, and 20 of their 30 tries from 3-point range — and go into Game 2 thinking that if the same opportunities present themselves Wednesday, the outcome could be different.
“They played as good a game as they’ve played in a while,” Portland guard Damian Lillard said of the Clippers. “We just have to understand that the things we saw on film, if we clean up some of those things offensively and defensively, then we’ll have a chance. We know we’ll have a chance.”
Blake Griffin had his best game since returning from injury for the Clippers, finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds in Game 1. Los Angeles is 6-0 with Griffin since he returned to the lineup.
“He wants to get his game going,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.
And Chris Paul simply controlled Game 1, the Clippers outscoring the Blazers by 29 points in Paul’s 33 minutes of play.
“They go as Damian goes,” Clippers guard Austin Rivers said. “Our focus was to stop him and limit everybody else as well. And I still think we can do a better job of that.”