LaMelo’s buzzer-beater
LaMelo Ball hit a game‑winning shot to beat the Miami Heat in the NBA play‑in, a clip that became the defining highlight from Tuesday’s slate. The moment was posted as a standalone viral clip and then folded into the full-game highlights package for Charlotte vs. Miami on April 14, signaling the play‑in’s tendency to produce single, sharable plays. (youtube.com) (youtube.com)
LaMelo Ball kept Charlotte’s season alive on April 14, scoring the go-ahead layup with 4.7 seconds left in overtime of a 127-126 play-in win over Miami. (nba.com) The ninth-seeded Hornets eliminated the 10th-seeded Heat at Spectrum Center in Charlotte and advanced to Friday’s final Eastern Conference play-in game for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) Ball finished with 30 points and 10 assists, and Miles Bridges added 28 points and nine rebounds before blocking Davion Mitchell’s layup attempt at the buzzer. (apnews.com) The game had already swung once in regulation, when Charlotte’s Coby White hit a tying three-pointer with 10.8 seconds left to force overtime at 114-114. (sports.yahoo.com) That sequence helps explain why Ball’s final drive traveled so fast online: the National Basketball Association’s own video feed split it into a standalone Ball highlight and a separate full-game recap within hours of the final horn. (nba.com) The play-in tournament is built for that kind of clip. The format turns the No. 7 through No. 10 seeds in each conference into single-elimination or near-single-elimination games, where one shot can end a season and become the night’s defining image. (nba.com) Charlotte entered Tuesday needing two wins to reach its first playoff berth since 2016, after finishing 44-38 and going 33-16 after Jan. 1. Miami finished 43-39 and had reached the playoffs through the play-in in each of the previous three seasons under coach Erik Spoelstra. (nba.com) The night also carried a second storyline after Bam Adebayo left in the second quarter and did not return following a loose-ball play involving Ball. NBC Sports reported that no foul was called on the sequence, which meant the play could not be reviewed. (nbcsports.com) By the end, the image that stuck was simpler: Ball getting into the lane, finishing with his right hand, and turning a 126-125 deficit into a Charlotte lead that lasted 4.7 seconds and changed the bracket. (apnews.com)
