Hornets beat Heat in OT
Charlotte kept its season alive by beating the Miami Heat in overtime during the NBA play‑in, eliminating Miami from postseason contention. The game’s closing sequences and Charlotte’s late execution were replayed widely in highlight packages, shifting the East’s final‑spot conversation toward the Hornets. (espn.com) (youtube.com)
Charlotte survived the National Basketball Association play-in on Tuesday night, beating Miami 127-126 in overtime on LaMelo Ball’s layup and Miles Bridges’ block at the buzzer. (espn.com) Ball scored 30 points and had 10 assists for Charlotte at Spectrum Center on April 14, and Bridges finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and the game-saving block on Davion Mitchell’s final drive. (espn.com) Miami got 28 points from Mitchell and 24 from Tyler Herro, but the Heat were eliminated because the ninth-versus-10th play-in game is a loser-out matchup. Charlotte, the East’s No. 9 seed at 44-38, moved on after finishing one game ahead of No. 10 Miami at 43-39. (nba.com) (espn.com) The play-in tournament decides the last two playoff spots in each conference. Teams seeded seventh and eighth get two chances; teams seeded ninth and 10th have to win twice, starting with an elimination game like Heat-Hornets. (nba.com) That format put extra weight on the final seconds. ESPN’s recap showed Ball scoring with 4.7 seconds left in overtime, then Bridges meeting Mitchell at the rim on the last possession to end Miami’s season. (espn.com) (youtube.com) Charlotte had not reached the playoffs since 2016, and the club entered this week trying to turn a 44-win regular season into its first postseason berth in a decade. Tuesday’s win kept that path open for at least one more game. (nba.com) The Hornets’ next step is another elimination game against the loser of the April 15 matchup between the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks. The winner of that game claims the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed. (nba.com) For Miami, the loss closed a season that ended outside the playoff field after a 43-39 finish. For Charlotte, the same one-point margin that ended the Heat’s year now carries the Hornets into the East’s last-spot fight. (espn.com)
