CHARLOTTE — Dwyane Wade proved he still has some magic in his 34-year-old body.

Wade scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, making his first 3-pointer of 2016, and the Miami Heat forced their first-round series to a seventh game with a 97-90 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.

Luol Deng was 9 of 14 from the field and finished with 21 points, while Goran Dragic added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Heat, who will host Game 7 on Sunday.

The Heat overcame a playoff career-high 37 points from Kemba Walker to hand the Hornets only their 11th loss of the season at home. Al Jefferson had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Cody Zeller had 12 points off the bench for Charlotte.

With Miami leading by two, Wade hit his first 3-pointer since December with 46 seconds left and added an 18-foot turnaround jump shot over Courtney Lee to help seal the win.

The Hornets missed a golden opportunity to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.

They trailed the entire second half, never quite able to get over the hump and the Heat made timely shots and grabbed crucial rebounds.

Miami outrebounded Charlotte 46-31.

Walker gave it all he had.

The 6-foot-1 point guard somehow got an up-and-under layup to fall amid the trees, then hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to beat the shot clock and cut the Miami lead to 85-81.

Hassan Whiteside returned to the game with 4:20 left and immediately made an impact, scoring on an offensive rebound. But Walker drove the lane and drew an and-one with 3 minutes to go, sending Whiteside to the bench with his sixth foul. Walker then added a razzle-dazzle step-back jumper to trim the Heat lead to 90-86 with 2:12 left in the game.

After a Miami miss, Walker drove the baseline after for a reverse to cut the lead to two with 1:33 remaining.

After Deng shot an airball on a 3-pointer from the top of the key on Miami’s next possession and the Heat were called for a shot clock violation, the Hornets had a chance to tie.

But Walker, who was 14 of 30 from the field, missed a pull-up jumper.

Wade answered with a 3-pointer from the left wing to push Miami’s lead back to five with 46 seconds remaining. Jefferson scored off a dish from Walker, but Wade splashed a turnaround jumper from 18 feet over Lee’s outstretched hand to push the lead back to five with 19.5 seconds left.

Walker missed a driving layup and Joe Johnson added two free throws the seal the game.

With their season on the line, the Heat shot 60 percent from the field in the first half to open a 59-50 lead.

Deng and Wade led the way, combining for 29 points on 13-of-19 shooting and the Heat dominated the glass, outrebounding the Hornets 23-11.

Jeff Siner | Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker, left, drives to the basket for two points as Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside, right, attempts to make the stop during Friday’s Game 6 on the teams’ playoff series. Walker had 37 points to lead the Hornets.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_HORNETS_HEAT_07.jpgJeff Siner | Charlotte Observer

Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker, left, drives to the basket for two points as Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside, right, attempts to make the stop during Friday’s Game 6 on the teams’ playoff series. Walker had 37 points to lead the Hornets.

Heat stay alive, force Game 7 with Charlotte

By Steve Reed

AP Sports Writer