The Charlotte Hornets will live another day in the NBA SoFi Play-In Tournament, as clutch plays from the dynamic duo of LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges clinched a slim 127-126 victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
Down by a single point in the dying seconds of the match, Ball drove down the right flank and got the layup to fall to seal the victory for Charlotte. Ball finished with 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists.
“I just gotta win the game. I feel like I just fucked the game up, so it’s my fault, we gotta make it work,” Ball said postgame.
Hornets Big Three Keep Season Alive
After Ball’s layup gave the Hornets a one-point lead with less than five ticks on the clock, Miami quickly advanced the ball in hopes of retaliating. However, Davion Mitchell’s attempt from inside was immediately met with a huge block by Miles Bridges, who finished with 28 points of his own, giving Charlotte the win.
Prior to both plays, however, the Hornets found themselves down by three in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. With 12.9 on the game clock, Coby White shot a turnaround three immediately after the inbound, which found nothing but net, forcing the game into an extra period.
The Hornets constantly played with fire in the endgame, however, as Ball committed two crucial turnovers in overtime that allowed Miami to erase a five-point lead.
With the win, Charlotte notched its first Play-In win since its inauguration in 2021. It also marks the Hornets’ first postseason win in a decade.
The Hornets await the loser of the other Play-In game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic. The winner of this matchup advances to the big dance as the seventh seed. The loser will play Charlotte, with the winner to advance as the eighth seed.
Tyler Herro’s Heroics Fall Short, While Bam Adebayo Suffers Injury
The Heat were forced to play the majority of the match without their star big man Bam Adebayo, who suffered a bad fall early in the second quarter and was ruled out for the rest of the game.
Miami then leaned on the heroics of Tyler Herro, who scored 23 points, including a late 6-0 run in overtime to give his team the lead. Meanwhile, Andrew Wiggins and Davion Mitchell paced the Heat loss, combining for 55 points, while Kel’el Ware dropped 12 markers and 19 boards.
The loss also saw Miami’s six-year playoff streak come to an end, where they made the Finals twice during this stretch.
