Play‑in thriller: Hornets
The NBA Play‑In Tournament opened with the Charlotte Hornets edging the Miami Heat on a game-ending sequence: LaMelo Ball delivered the go‑ahead layup and Miles Bridges provided a buzzer‑block to seal the win (espn.com). The play‑in officially kicked off on April 14 as eight teams battle for the final two playoff spots in each conference over the next week (usatoday.com) (cbssports.com).
Charlotte survived Miami 127-126 in overtime on April 14 when LaMelo Ball scored with 4.7 seconds left and Miles Bridges blocked Davion Mitchell at the buzzer. (apnews.com) The game was the Eastern Conference 9-versus-10 play-in matchup at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, and the loss ended Miami’s season. Charlotte advanced to Friday’s game for the East’s eighth and final playoff seed. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) Ball finished with 30 points, and Mitchell led Miami with 28 in a game that swung through regulation and one extra period before the final defensive stop. ESPN’s box score listed Charlotte at 44-38 and Miami at 43-39 entering the night. (espn.com) (basketball-reference.com) The play-in is a four-team bracket in each conference for clubs that finished seventh through 10th in the standings. The seventh-place team hosts the eighth-place team for the No. 7 seed, while the ninth-place team hosts the 10th-place team in an elimination game. (nba.com) (cbssports.com) That structure means Charlotte still has to win one more game to reach the playoffs, while Miami had no margin for error on Tuesday night. The Hornets will travel to face the loser of the April 15 game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic on Friday, April 17. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) The 2026 SoFi National Basketball Association Play-In Tournament runs from April 14 through April 17, and the first round of the playoffs starts April 18. All play-in games are scheduled to stream on Prime Video this year. (nba.com) (sports.yahoo.com) Charlotte entered the night after losing the regular-season series to Miami 3-1, though the Hornets had won the most recent meeting 136-106 on March 17. Tuesday’s result flipped that recent history in the highest-stakes game between the teams this season. (nba.com) The opener delivered exactly what the play-in is built to create: a single elimination game decided on the final possession, with one team moving on and the other going home. Charlotte gets one more chance Friday; Miami does not. (apnews.com) (nba.com)
