(My Sportsbook) - It has to be frustrating for Pat Riley. Here's a man that absolutely loathes losing, yet his team is on the short end of the scoreboard more times than not.

On Tuesday, Riley was fined by David Stern for the second time this season. Stern had issued a strong warning regarding officiating complaints last week. Riley was fined $50,000 in December, and was slapped with another $20,000 fine on Tuesday.

"I absolutely hate losing," Riley admitted. "I despise it. I do everything I can not to lose. So anybody who's got any brains at all knows that if you're somebody who hates to lose, and you're losing, that somewhere you get frustrated. ...

"But I'm not complaining. I'm just fighting as much as I can to get what I can get."

STUNG BY THE HORNETS

Riley's team is coming off a 79-68 setback at the hands of the New Orleans Hornets. Jamal Mashburn scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the New Orleans Hornets to a 78-69 victory over the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Jamaal Magloire also scored 15 for the Hornets, who have won three straight.

David Wesley chipped in 11 points and P.J. Brown and Courtney Alexander each scored 10 for New Orleans, which dominated play under the basket throughout the contest and outrebounded the Heat by a 49-31 margin.

Miami shot a dismal 36 percent in the game and got just one decent offensive performance, as Eddie Jones scored a game-high 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Malik Allen chipped in 14 points, but was just 6-of-17 from the floor, and Caron Butler scored 11 with a poor 4-of-13 performance for the Heat, who have lost two straight and six of their last eight.

"The game was played poorly from both sides," Riley said. "It was sort of sluggish, and the first team that took any assertive, aggressive control was going to win. They went on about a 10-0 run. That, coupled with our horrible shooting and not rebounding the ball, did us in."

Next up for the Heat is a Friday night clash with the Dallas Mavericks in Texas. This is not an easy task for Riley and company. Dallas is 21-4 and has dominated Eastern Conference foes to the tune of an 18-2 mark.

And how do Miami's players feel about their vociferous coach?

"He's out there fighting for us," forward Caron Butler said. "You like to see that even when you're down and not doing so well. Coach is still working hard and battling for us."