Hornets force Game 7 with Heat

The final game of the series will be Tuesday in Miami.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- P.J. Brown barked a few words at rookie Dwyane Wade when the two briefly tangled coming up court.
"He was just asking about my family, making sure they're all right," Wade said, his sense of humor apparently still intact.
Wade can only hope the Heat will have the last laugh when they face New Orleans in Game 7 Tuesday night in Miami.
On Sunday, the Hornets were smiling after fending off elimination with an 89-83 victory that featured almost as much shoving and trash-talking as shooting and passing.
"I call it playoff chit-chat. It's nothing personal," said Brown, who had 16 points and nine rebounds. "It was nothing for me to play like that and talk like that."
Home team has edge
The home team has won every game so far, and the Heat have a 15-game home winning streak. In NBA history, the home team is 70-15 in Game 7s.
"It's going to be a war, just like every other game in this series. It might be a little more intense," said Wade, who led the Heat with 27 points. "That's what you watch the playoffs for, to see who's going to duke it out in Game 7."
The mind games and physical battles that have helped define this series picked up even more in Game 6, compounded by a foot injury to referee Joe Crawford that left only two officials on the floor for most of the game.
Tempers flared
Robert Traylor was called for a technical when he flattened Eddie Jones on a shot attempt in the fourth quarter, then Traylor was thrown out for continuing to shout at the Miami bench.
Baron Davis also exchanged words with the Miami players on the bench twice in the final quarter and had to be pulled away by teammates the second time. Lamar Odom, Lynch, Jamaal Magloire and Stacy Augmon also were called for technicals, in every case because of their behavior toward opposing players.
"It just left a nasty taste in your mouth. I don't know what they were trying to do," Miami forward Caron Butler said. "We're ready to go back to Miami and redeem ourselves."
New Orleans never trailed and led by double digits for most of the game. But Miami -- after trailing by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter -- got as close as 85-81 on Caron Butler's runner with 1:07 remaining. Brown then made a pair of free throws, and Miami could get no closer than four the rest of the way.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.