Heat at Hornets tonight
One highlighted play‑in game is Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets — Charlotte hosts after the teams split their two regular‑season meetings, with LaMelo Ball’s playmaking singled out pregame. (covers.com)
Charlotte hosts Miami on Tuesday night in a win-or-go-home Eastern Conference play-in game at Spectrum Center. (nba.com) The Hornets are the No. 9 seed at 44-38, and the Heat are No. 10 at 43-39. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Eastern on April 14, 2026, and the winner advances to a Friday road game for the East’s No. 8 playoff seed. (nba.com) (aol.com) Miami won the regular-season series 3-1, but Charlotte took the last meeting 136-106 at home on March 17. Bam Adebayo missed that game with right calf tightness, and LaMelo Ball finished with 30 points and 13 assists. (nba.com) (espn.com) Charlotte enters with its highest win total since 2015-16 and its first postseason game at Spectrum Center since 2016. The Hornets also closed the regular season on a 33-16 run after January 1 and clinched home court for this matchup with a 110-96 win at New York on Sunday. (nba.com) (aol.com) The matchup pits two different tempos against each other. Miami finished first in pace at 103.4 possessions per game and averaged 120.9 points, while Charlotte played slower at 96.8 pace and paired a top-10 defense with a plus-5.0 net rating. (basketball-reference.com 1) (basketball-reference.com 2) Charlotte’s offense has leaned on Ball’s passing and shooting. Ball averaged 20.1 points and 7.1 assists, and the Hornets said he and rookie Kon Knueppel finished first and second in total three-pointers made by teammates, a combination the franchise called the second such pair in league history. (espn.com) (aol.com) The Hornets also got scoring from Brandon Miller, who averaged 20.2 points, and Coby White said before the game that avoiding fouls against Miami would be a key. NBA.com’s preview said Charlotte ranked second in three-point percentage after January 1 at 38.7%. (espn.com) (nba.com) Miami’s offense has centered on Norman Powell, who averaged 21.7 points, with Adebayo adding 25 points in the Heat’s 143-117 regular-season finale against Atlanta on Sunday. Coach Erik Spoelstra said the play-in opener is “a Game 7,” and he has taken Miami through the play-in and into the playoffs in each of the past three seasons. (espn.com) (nba.com) Charlotte sold out 25 home games this season, including 15 straight to end the regular season, according to the team. On Tuesday night, that crowd gets the franchise’s biggest home game in a decade, with one season ending before midnight. (aol.com)
