"With the Hornets in town, the buzz was gone.

No, this was not the electric atmosphere of Sunday afternoon, when the Miami Heat made a rare regular-season statement with their decision over the Chicago Bulls.

Instead, it opened as every bit the struggle of the second night of the Heat's previous two home-and-home back-to-back sets.

Languid. Lethargic. Listless.

With New Orleans making 10 of its first 11 shots.

The difference is unlike those games against the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, the Heat found their second wind and used it to blow past the West-worst Hornets 109-95 Monday night at AmericanAirlines Arena."