The Charlotte Hornets secured a thrilling 127-126 play-in win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
The Hornets have been an elite three-point shooting team this season, but they struggled to knock them down on Tuesday, despite elite ball movement.
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For the Heat, Bam Adebayo went down early with a lower back injury, but Kel’lel Ware stepped up in a major way. Adebayo was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Neither side was able to catch fire in terms of efficiency, but the sheer volume of shots led to a number of ties and lead changes. After one quarter, the Hornets led by two.
In the second quarter, the Heat played elite defense, but Charlotte’s potent offense still put up 26 points in the second frame. On the other side of the ball, Miami hit five threes in the same period to take a two-point halftime lead.
The third quarter was almost the exact opposite. While the Heat still managed to put together a solid third quarter on offense, their defense stumbled.
Coby White scored 11 straight for the Hornets to end the third quarter with a six-point advantage.
The momentum made a full swing midway through the fourth quarter. As the Hornets fell cold, Miami hit a rhythm. A stunning 12-0 scoring run put the Heat ahead by four.
After a strong dunk from Miles Bridges, Andrew Wiggins knocked down two straight threes while Charlotte’s outside shooting struggles continued.
Down by three with 45 seconds to play, the Hornets failed to find a good shot and Grant Williams missed a contested three. Jaime Jaquez Jr. made one of two attempts at the line to make it a possession game.
With 18 seconds left, Brandon Miller hit a tough three-pointer to cut the lead to one. Tyler Herro went on to make two clutch free throws and force the Hornets into a down-by-three situation on the last shot.
White wasted no time on the inbound and sank a ridiculous three off the inbounds pass to tie it with ten seconds remaining. Herro missed the ensuing shot and the matchup went to overtime.
In the extra period, both sides played solid defense until Bridges put Charlotte ahead with a personal 5-0 run. Herro missed an open look with 90 seconds to play and the Hornets were able to burn some of the clock before Bridges missed his own three.
Mitchell made a tough layup on the other end before Ball responded with a layup of his own to go ahead by five. Miami didn’t go away, though. Herro hit a fadeaway three off the inbound before Pelle Larsson grabbed a steal and Herro drew a foul on a three-point miss.
Herro sank all three attempts at the line with 8.7 seconds to play, putting Miami ahead by one. LaMelo Ball came up clutch when it mattered most, getting to the rim for a layup. Miami had no timeouts left before Bridges blocked Mitchell on the last-second layup attempt.
The Hornets will now play the loser of the play-in matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic.
James Parker contributed to this story.
