Heat beats Hornets
Miami eliminated a play‑in opponent with a 111–104 victory that pushed the Heat straight into the playoffs, and Tyler Herro led the way with a 38‑point night. (espn.com)
Charlotte survived Miami 127-126 in overtime on Tuesday night, ending the Heat’s season in the opening Eastern Conference play-in elimination game. (nba.com) LaMelo Ball scored 30 points and made the go-ahead layup with 4.7 seconds left in overtime, and Miles Bridges blocked Davion Mitchell at the buzzer to seal it. ESPN’s game recap listed the finish as a Hornets win, not a Miami clincher. (espn.com) The official National Basketball Association scorer’s report showed Miami fell to 43-40 and Charlotte improved to 45-38 at a sellout Spectrum Center crowd of 19,698. Tyler Herro scored 28 points, Bam Adebayo had 27, and Davion Mitchell added 23 in 47 minutes 30 seconds. (nba.com) Charlotte got 28 points from Bridges, 23 from Brandon Miller and 19 from Coby White, while shooting 50-for-113 from the field. The Hornets also won the rebounding battle 54-48 and scored 25 second-chance points to Miami’s 20. (nba.com) The play-in format gives the No. 9 and No. 10 teams no margin for error: the loser is eliminated immediately, and the winner advances to a second game for the No. 8 seed. That is where Charlotte goes next on Friday, April 17. (nba.com) The Hornets finished the regular season 44-38, one game ahead of Miami at 43-39, which gave Charlotte home court for Tuesday’s matchup. Miami had won the regular-season series 3-1, including a 128-120 road win in Charlotte on March 6. (nba.com) Charlotte’s team site now lists the Heat as eliminated and the Hornets as 1-0 in the play-in, with another game scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. Miami’s season ended two days before the National Basketball Association playoffs begin on April 18. (nba.com)
