NEW ORLEANS – Marco Belinelli scored eight of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and the New Orleans Hornets beat the injury-depleted Miami Heat 90-76 on Wednesday night for their first preseason win.
Already without Dwyane Wade because of his right hamstring pull in Miami's first exhibition game, the Heat also sat out star forward LeBron James.
James was resting his right hamstring, which tightened up a night earlier during a game in Miami against Russian club CSKA Moscow.
New Orleans was playing without forward David West, who missed his second straight preseason game with a sprained right wrist.
Emeka Okafor scored 15 points for the Hornets (1-2).
Chris Bosh led Miami (2-2) with 24 points, 20 of which he scored in the fourth quarter.
James Jones had 15 points for Miami and Mike Miller 11.
New Orleans led 45-29 at halftime with the help of 11 points each from Belinelli and Emeka Okafor.
Bosh's third-quarter surge helped Miami climb back in front and Miller's 3 put the Heat up 63-61 late in the period.
Miami led 70-65 after Jones' 3, then Hornets guard Willie Green responded with a short pull-up to spark a decisive 21-2 New Orleans run. Belinelli scored seven points during the spurt, hitting one of his three 3-pointers in the game. Green scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter.
With West out, Jason Smith started at forward for New Orleans and scored 13 points and eight rebounds, while Okafor finished with 15 points.
Although the game won't count in the regular season standings, it was a gratifying win for the Hornets, who responded to a 135-81 loss in Orlando on Sunday by getting Monty Williams his first victory since he took his first NBA head coaching job this past summer.
The matchup with Miami initially appeared to be the Hornets' most attractive home game of the preseason when NBA training camps opened. Then Wade went out with a right hamstring pull in the Heat's first exhibition game and James wound up sitting next to him on the bench in New Orleans.
The home crowd did get to see Hornets three-time All-Star Chris Paul, who had seven points and seven assists in a little more than 28 minutes of work.
