Hornets win in OT
Charlotte knocked Miami out of immediate contention in a Play‑In overtime thriller when LaMelo Ball hit the go‑ahead bucket and Mikal Bridges batted away a final attempt to seal the victory, giving the Hornets a shot at the East 8‑seed on Friday (x.com). The win came in a high‑pressure, win‑or‑go‑home setting that produced late highlights and immediate replay demand on social platforms (x.com).
Charlotte survived Miami, 127-126 in overtime on Tuesday night, and moved one win from the Eastern Conference’s last playoff berth. (apnews.com) LaMelo Ball scored 30 points with 10 assists and made the go-ahead layup with 4.7 seconds left in overtime at Spectrum Center in Charlotte. Miles Bridges then blocked Davion Mitchell’s layup at the buzzer to end Miami’s season. (apnews.com) Coby White forced overtime with a corner three with 10.8 seconds left in regulation, and Charlotte won despite Ball’s 12-for-31 shooting night and 2-for-16 mark from three-point range. The Hornets finished with 18 made threes and a 54-48 rebounding edge. (sports.yahoo.com) (espn.com) The game was the Eastern Conference’s 9-versus-10 Play-In matchup, which is an elimination game for both teams. Charlotte now advances to Friday’s game against the loser of Wednesday’s Philadelphia 76ers-Orlando Magic meeting for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) That keeps alive Charlotte’s push for its first playoff appearance since 2016. The Hornets finished the regular season 44-38, their highest win total since 2015-16, and went 33-16 after January 1. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) Miami’s loss ended a season in which Erik Spoelstra’s team finished 43-39 and entered the tournament as the No. 10 seed. The Heat had escaped the Play-In Tournament in each of the previous three seasons, but not this time. (nba.com) Mitchell led Miami with 28 points, Tyler Herro scored 23, and Kel’el Ware had 12 points and 19 rebounds. For Charlotte, Bridges scored 28 points, White added 23, and Mark Williams had 14 rebounds. (espn.com) The finish also drew immediate argument over a fourth-quarter play involving Ball and Bam Adebayo. Yahoo Sports reported Miami was upset that Ball was not ejected after Adebayo went down on a play the Heat viewed as dangerous. (sports.yahoo.com) For Charlotte, the math is simple now: one more win on Friday sends the franchise back into a best-of-seven series for the first time in a decade. Tuesday’s game kept that path open by one point. (nba.com)
