Hornets survive in OT
The Charlotte Hornets won an overtime play‑in game to stay alive in the postseason bracket, with LaMelo Ball hitting the go‑ahead bucket and Mikal Bridges sealing a late stop. (x.com) (nytimes.com)
Charlotte beat Miami 127-126 in overtime on Tuesday night, extending its season on LaMelo Ball’s layup with 4.7 seconds left and Miles Bridges’ block at the buzzer. (apnews.com) Ball finished with 30 points and 10 assists, and Bridges added 28 points and nine rebounds for the ninth-seeded Hornets at Spectrum Center. Davion Mitchell had Charlotte’s last look for Miami, but Bridges met the shot at the rim. (espn.com) Charlotte only got to overtime because Coby White tied the game at 114-114 with a three-pointer with 10.8 seconds left in regulation. Miami’s Tyler Herro missed a potential winner before the horn, sending the East 9-versus-10 game to an extra period. (usatoday.com) The result knocked Miami out and moved Charlotte into the second play-in game on Friday, where the Hornets will face the loser of Wednesday’s Philadelphia-Orlando matchup for the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed. Under the National Basketball Association’s play-in format, the 9-10 winner must win twice to reach the playoffs. (nba.com) (bostonglobe.com) Charlotte had not won a home postseason game in 10 years, according to The Associated Press account carried by ESPN. The play-in also brought the franchise its first home postseason date since 2016. (espn.com) (charlotteobserver.com) The ending came after a game that swung hard in both directions. Charlotte led by eight in the fourth quarter, Miami answered with a 12-0 run to go ahead, and White’s late shot erased what had looked like a closing Heat lead. (sports.yahoo.com) Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said after the loss that his team felt “worthy to win tonight,” but the season ended anyway. Charlotte now gets one more game to turn a 44-38 regular season into the franchise’s first playoff berth in a decade. (espn.com)
