LaMelo’s late winner clip

LaMelo Ball put Charlotte ahead with a right-handed layup with 4.7 seconds left in overtime, and the Hornets beat Miami 127-126 in the Eastern Conference play-in on Tuesday, April 14. (apnews.com) Miles Bridges then blocked Davion Mitchell at the buzzer to end Miami’s season at Spectrum Center, where Ball finished with 30 points and 10 assists and Bridges added 28 points and nine rebounds. (espn.com) Charlotte needed Coby White to get there first: he hit a turnaround three-pointer with 10.8 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 114 and force overtime. (sports.yahoo.com) The play-in is the National Basketball Association’s win-or-go-home round for seeds seven through 10, and this game was exactly that for the No. 9 Hornets and No. 10 Heat. The winner moved on to Friday’s game for the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 playoff seed; the loser was eliminated. (nba.com) Charlotte’s path to this spot had been its best in years: the Hornets finished 44-38, won 33 of 49 games after January 1, and were trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016. (nba.com) Miami entered with more recent play-in experience under coach Erik Spoelstra, but the Heat lost Bam Adebayo in the second quarter after a fall that left him with a lower back injury. Spoelstra pushed for a flagrant review on the play, and the league was later reported to be reviewing it. (espn.com) (sports.yahoo.com) Ball’s winner landed after his own late swing from hero to culprit: Tyler Herro hit a corner three, Ball turned it over in the backcourt, then fouled Herro on another three-point try, and Herro made all three free throws for a 126-125 Miami lead with 8.7 seconds left. (espn.com) That sequence is why the final clip traveled so fast online: one possession flipped the score, the next one flipped the season back. Charlotte now goes on the road Friday still alive, and Miami goes into an offseason it had avoided since 2019. (sports.yahoo.com) (espn.com)