Heat find answers, still standing after tough Charlotte series: It was coming, they felt. All Sunday, they felt it coming, and none more so than Luol Deng, who was playing the first Game 7 of his career. What a series this had been, too. What it demanded from each of these teams. -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Heat storm past Hornets 106-73, into second round vs. Raptors: The tension quickly turned into celebration. A celebration of the possibilities of this roster. A celebration of the perseverance in the absence of Chris Bosh. A celebration of how, less than two years removed from LeBron James walking out that door, the Heat were able to take a Sunday stroll into the second round of the NBA playoffs. -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Heat's Goran Dragic closes strong in series-clincher against Hornets: The moment was so fitting. After Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic had the best postseason game of his career, he was called to the podium for post-game interviews. During the middle of his session, the fire alarm accidentally sounded at AmericanAirlines Arena. -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Heat's Tyler Johnson returns after February shoulder surgery: The first shot didn’t go quite as Tyler Johnson would have liked. That didn’t matter too much. All that mattered was that for the first time since late January, he was back on the floor, playing in a game after being sidelined for more than two months after having rotator cuff surgery in February. -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Heat on to round two after Game 7 thrashing of Hornets: Goran Dragic spent most of the first round of these playoffs chasing Kemba Walker around in circles and fighting frustration. In the end, the Heat’s $85-million point guard saved his best for Game 7. And Charlotte’s leader did quite the opposite. -- The Miami Herald

Goran Dragic picks a fine time to shine for Miami Heat in Game 7 win: Enter the Dragon — late, but right on time. You knew it was a special Sunday for Goran Dragic when he rose for that slam dunk to give his Miami Heat a 24-point lead in the third quarter. His dunks come far less often than full moons; this was his second of the entire NBA season. Teammates not in the game sprang to their feet. The Miami Herald

The Heat has good cause to celebrate after winning tough-fought series: Dwyane Wade had too much on his mind Sunday to worry about whatever had been trickling down his face. So the Miami Heat guard hadn’t the slightest clue, not until ABC’s Doris Burke referenced it in an interview after the Heat had routed the Hornets, 106-73, about the Internet’s obsession with apparent leakage from his eye during the national anthem. -- The Miami Herald

Luol Deng’s consistency key to Heat’s success in win over Hornets: For a player who had never played in a Game 7 before, Heat forward Luol Deng looked quite comfortable Sunday afternoon at American Airlines Arena. Deng scored seven of the Heat’s first 10 points as Miami advanced to the second round with a 106-73 victory over Charlotte. -- The Miami Herald

Hassan Whiteside plays big in Miami Heat’s Game 7 win over Hornets: When Hassan Whiteside woke up Sunday morning, hours before the first Game 7 of his NBA career, he told his cousin: “I’m going to try to block everything.” He didn’t exactly block everything Sunday against Charlotte, but he did plenty, swatting away five shots, deterring plenty of others, collecting 10 points and 12 rebounds and leaving his fingerprints all over this game. -- The Miami Herald

Dragic drives Heat past Hornets into second round of playoffs: Nothing sadder than a dragon who has flamed out, whether we’re talking about a children’s animated feature or an opening-round NBA playoff series. That’s how Goran Dragic felt, how the $90-million point guard looked, while Charlotte was ripping off three straight wins to push Miami toward the postseason’s garbage chute. -- The Palm Beach Post

Luol Deng living up to hype of signing with post-LeBron Heat: This is why Pat Riley called the Luol Deng signing “one of the most important” in Miami Heat history. Deng was not swayed from the fallout of LeBron James fleeing to Cleveland in the summer of 2014. Instead, the tears in South Florida had not even dried when Riley convinced Deng to take $20 million of Micky Arison’s money to be James’ replacement. -- The Palm Beach Post

Heat blast Hornets to advance to second round of NBA playoffs: It didn’t take long for everyone in the building to see that the Heat were at maximum force Sunday, and all five starters made their mark in the opening minutes. Luol Deng extended his run as the best player in the series by scoring Miami’s first two baskets, Joe Johnson shook loose for a floater and Goran Dragic launched what became an incessant attack. -- The Palm Beach Post

Raptors took 3 of 4 from Heat during season: The Heat will start the second round on the road. After getting past the Hornets in a seven-game first-round series, Miami moves on to face Toronto in the second round. Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals series is scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. at The Air Canada Centre with the second-seeded Raptors having home-court advantage. -- The Palm Beach Post

Hornets totally exposed in 33-point Game 7 playoff loss to Miami Heat: It wasn’t just embarrassing. It was also startling, this 106-73 beating that the Miami Heat put on the Charlotte Hornets in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series Sunday. You know that dream everyone has at least once where you are in a public place and then you look down and realize you have no clothes on? That was the Hornets in this Sunday nightmare of a game – totally exposed. -- The Charlotte Observer

Miami Heat ousts Charlotte Hornets from playoffs with 106-73 win: This playoff series ended the way it started -- with a blowout Charlotte Hornets loss in Miami. Game 7 was all Heat, which led by 32 points early in the fourth quarter of a 106-73 closeout game at American Airlines Arena. -- The Charlotte Observer

Hornets’ Kemba Walker picks the worst day to have one of his worst games: It was back in late February when Charlotte Hornets center Al Jefferson started calling Kemba Walker the "motor," as in "The truck don’t run without its motor." Sunday the motor ran out of gas. Or leaked quarts of oil. Or seized up entirely. -- The Charlotte Observer