Hornets sneak past Heat in overtime thriller to keep NBA playoff hopes alive
With “Protect the Hive” shirts scattered across Spectrum Center on Tuesday, the Hornets furthered their quest to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
In a battle that came down to the final nine seconds of overtime — in front of a record 19,698 fans — Charlotte bested the Miami Heat, 127-126, at home.
Despite sharpshooting rookie Kon Knueppel being held to six points — largely because of a scoreless second half — the Hornets were able to upend the visitors by the smallest of margins in the first home play-in game in the franchise’s history.
“It just shows the character of the team,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said. “I think at the end of the day, execution is not always going to be perfect, but I think that these guys find a way to stick with it and not give in sometimes when things aren’t going well or not going your way, I think that’s where I see the most growth and maturity from our group is just finding a way to respond.”
Power forward Miles Bridges put up 15 points and six rebounds in an aggressive, back-and-forth first half that saw Miami lose standout forward Bam Adebayo to a back injury following a collision with Charlotte guard LaMelo Ball.
After trailing by two at halftime, Bridges added another 13 points in the second half and overtime. Ball — who appeared to cause Adebayo’s fall with a swipe to his left leg after Ball had already fallen to the ground — finished the game with 30 points, five rebounds and 10 assists. Ball also made the game-winning layup with 5 seconds left the game.
“We just stayed together throughout it all,” Bridges said. “It was an up-and-down game.”
Hornets shooting guard Brandon Miller added 23 points and five rebounds.
Coby White, the Hornets’ energetic sixth man, exploded in the third quarter, producing 14 points following halftime. That onslaught of scoring helped the Hornets control the game heading into the fourth quarter with fans cheering his name following a late reprieve from the action. White ultimately finished with 19 points and four rebounds.
White tied the game at 114 apiece with a corner 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. That bucket eventually led to overtime.
“Coby was great for us,” Ball said. “He made big plays; he’s a big player. He did everything we need.”
The Heat were paced by point guard Davion Mitchell and forward Andrew Wiggins, who combined for 55 total points. Center Kel’el Ware added 12 points and 19 rebounds for Miami. Guard Tyler Herro produced 23 points and six assists.
Herro was fouled by Ball with 8.7 seconds left as the Heat guard attempted a 3-point shot. Herro ended up making all three free throws to give the Heat a one-point lead.
But Ball put the exclamation point on the night with an aggressive drive to the rim with 5 ticks left on the clock. The Heat were unable to answer as time expired on a made dash to the other side of the court.
“We drew up a good play, I feel like,” Ball said. “Just orchestrated it and it worked.”
The Hornets (45-38) will now face the loser of the other Eastern Conference play-in matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers (45-37) and Orlando Magic (45-37). That bout will take place Wednesday in Philadelphia at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Charlotte will travel for that Friday matchup (7:30 p.m.) with their playoff aspirations on the line for a second consecutive game.
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Hornets sneak past Heat in overtime thriller to keep NBA playoff hopes alive."
