NEW ORLEANS - The Hornets relied on defense and inspired play by their banged up All-Star guard to get back into their opening-round playoff series.
Baron Davis, nursing a sprained left ankle, had a team-high 21 points and the Hornets held Miami to 32.9 percent shooting in a 77-71 victory Saturday.
Davis scored on 3-pointers and by driving hard to the basket, once knifing into three defenders to convert a scoop shot late in the fourth quarter.
"I just know when the season's over I'm going to lay in bed for three weeks," said Davis, who went to the floor several times after hard drives. "My elbow, my knee, my ankle, back - just got to keep fighting."
The Heat leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.
The Hornets shot 35.5 percent but made up for it with defense.
"It's just physical. They're a tough team and we know if we're going to win the series we've got to get down and dirty with them," said Hornets forward P.J. Brown, who earlier in the day was named the recipient of the league's Sportsmanship Award.
New Orleans, coming off an embarrassing 93-63 loss in Game 2, led 59-50 early in the fourth after George Lynch's baseline jump shot. Then Odom and Caron Butler combined to help Miami nearly pull it out.
Odom had a putback, two free throws and jumper before being elbowed in the eye and needing six stitches, which kept him out for a while. Butler had a putback of his miss with just over six minutes to go. He went on to hit a baseline jumper and six free throws, the last two cutting Miami's deficit to 73-71 with 1:47 left.
But he then missed a 3 and on the other end, Jamaal Magloire grabbed an offensive rebound in a crowd and got fouled, hitting both free throws to put New Orleans up 75-71 with 55 seconds to go.
PISTONS 95, BUCKS 85: Detroit took back control of this series the way it knows best - with defense.
Detroit, the first home team to lose a game in the playoffs this season, shut down Milwaukee over the final four minutes to take a 2-1 lead in the East series.
The Pistons were expected to come out swinging after losing on Wednesday. But they gave up 30 points in the first quarter and needed a 23-4 run at the start of the third to take their first lead.
Then the defense took over, holding Milwaukee to just a free throw over the final four minutes.
Detroit coach Larry Brown called the second half the Pistons' best defensive effort of the series.
"The defense picked up and we started making shots," Brown said. "We dominated the boards, we gave them one shot, mostly jump shots. That was the key."
Milwaukee seemed ready to prove that its win in Game 2 wasn't a fluke.
Despite blowing a double-digit lead, the Bucks pulled within 85-84 on Joe Smith's dunk.
The Bucks then missed their final nine shots.
MAVERICKS 104, KINGS 79: Playing with the desperation of a team facing elimination, though it wasn't, host Dallas began climbing back into its series.
And it took an undrafted rookie to get the Mavericks going.
Marquis Daniels shook, spun and shot his way to 11 of his 22 points during a third-quarter spurt that deflated Sacramento.
Dallas trails 2-1 in the series.
The Mavs came in confident of getting a lift merely by being at home, where they were a league-best 36-5. They got off to a great start but led by only seven at halftime and had plenty of things going wrong, starting with four fouls on point guard Steve Nash.
His extended minutes, despite the mounting fouls, was a clear indication of the importance Dallas coach Don Nelson put on avoiding an 0-3 hole, something no team in league history has overcome. Nelson also hardly rested Dirk Nowitzki after he got two fouls the first eight minutes.
NUGGETS 107, WOLVES 86: Denver rewarded its fans for their patience.
Carmelo Anthony had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Nuggets, who were at home in the postseason for the first time in nine years. Denver earned its first home playoff victory in a decade and avoided going down 3-0 in the series.
Latrell Sprewell had 25 points and Kevin Garnett added 24 for the Timberwolves, who fell behind by 17 early and mounted only one serious threat after that.
The Nuggets, led by Marcus Camby's 16 rebounds, had a 53-36 edge on the boards.
LAKERS: Gary Payton has not played in the fourth quarter of the past two games, and he is clearly not happy about it.
The exact measure of Payton's discontent could not be determined with Payton staying away from the media.
Coach Phil Jackson has benched Payton in favor of Derek Fisher and Kareem Rush, both of whom have had their jump shots working much better than Payton's. And with the Rockets, who trail in the series 2-1, packing the middle to defend Shaquille O'Neal, outside shooting is at a premium for Los Angeles.
"I told him this morning, and he knows the reason why," Jackson said.
