.jpg "Moussa Diabate #14 of the Charlotte Hornets guards Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat in the first half during their game at Spectrum Center on March 6, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina.")
Moussa Diabate #14 of the Charlotte Hornets guards Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat in the first half during their game at Spectrum Center on March 6, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jacob Kupferman
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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
The Miami Heat made history last season, becoming the first 10th place team in either conference to make the playoffs through the NBA’s play-in tournament since this current play-in format was first instituted for the 2020-21 season.
The Heat’s challenge this postseason? Do it again.
After defeating the Atlanta Hawks 143-117 on the final day of the NBA regular season, the Heat ended the regular season with a 43-39 record to finish in 10th place in the Eastern Conference for the second straight season.
That has this season’s Heat team looking to replicate the history it made last season, to become the second 10th-place team ever to win two straight elimination road play-in tournament games and make the playoffs in the six seasons that this NBA postseason format has been in existence. The play-in features the seventh-through-10th-place teams competing for the final two playoff seeds in each conference.
“We’re here, and now we just have to make the most of this,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, with the team missing out on its season-long goal to finish with a top-six seed in the East to qualify for the playoffs without needing to take part in the play-in. “There’s no other way than just to absolutely go for it.”
This season’s Heat play-in journey begins with a win-or-go-home matchup against the East’s ninth-place Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday at Spectrum Center (7:30 p.m., Prime).
A loss to the Hornets would end the Heat’s season, but a win would keep the Heat’s season alive and move it one victory away from making the playoffs for the seventh straight season
“It is like the NCAA tournament, it’s like FIBA,” Spoelstra said of the play-in tournament. “It’s harrowing, it’s nuts. You just have to absolutely embrace it. It makes you feel alive, that’s for sure, if you’re a competitor. You don’t want the season to go the way it can to put you in the play-in. But once you’re in it, it’s exhilarating. And you have to embrace the competition, embrace how every single possession really does matter.”
With a win over the Hornets in Charlotte, the Heat would advance to take on the loser of the East’s No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game. The East’s No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in matchup will be between the seventh-place Philadelphia 76ers and eighth-place Orlando Magic in Philadelphia on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., Prime).
In this scenario, the Heat would go on the road to take on the loser of the Magic-76ers game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in either Orlando or Philadelphia in another elimination play-in game. The winner of Friday’s matchup would make the playoffs as the East’s No. 8 seed and move on to a best-of-7 first-round series against the East’s top-seeded Detroit Pistons, with Game 1 of that series set for Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in Detroit (NBC and Peacock).
“We’re treating it, obviously, like it’s a Game 7 for us,” Heat guard Norman Powell said of Tuesday’s elimination game in Charlotte. “In the play-in, and us being in that 10th spot, it’s win or go home. So that’s our mindset, to get this win, figure out where we got to go after that to get another win. But we’re all focused on this one game, and playing our brand of basketball and giving ourselves a chance to keep moving on.”
One big advantage the Heat has over the Hornets is its experience and success in this position, as this marks the fourth straight season that Miami has been part of the play-in tourney. The Heat has qualified for the playoffs in each of the first three times it has been in the play-in, even making the NBA Finals after escaping the play-in as the East’s No. 8 playoff seed in 2023.
The Heat matches the Hawks this year for the most play-in tournament appearances with four, and Miami already has the most play-in wins in the tourney’s short history with four such victories.
Meanwhile, the Hornets have been in the play-in tournament twice before. But after entering the 2021 and 2022 play-in tourneys as the East’s 10th-place team, Charlotte was eliminated in the first game of both play-ins.
“Obviously, we’ve had too much experience in the play-in,” said Heat center and captain Bam Adebayo, who has been a part of each of the Heat’s four play-in appearances. “But understanding what’s at stake, and truly how bad do you really want to get in this dance. That’s what it boils down to.”
But the Heat and Hornets also enter the postseason after ending the regular season on two very different notes.
Miami lost 10 of its final 15 regular season games, and went 29-32 after a strong 14-7 start to the season. Over the last month of the regular season, the Heat posted the NBA’s 11th-ranked offensive rating, 28th-ranked defensive rating and 19th-ranked net rating.
Meanwhile, Charlotte has been one of the NBA’s best teams over the final three months of the regular season. After reaching mid-January with a 16-28 record, the Hornets went 28-10 while posting the league’s third-ranked offensive rating, sixth-ranked defensive rating and second-ranked net rating (behind only the Western Conference’s second-seeded San Antonio Spurs) since Jan. 22.
“Their team is playing at a high pace, with a lot of confidence,” Powell said of the Hornets. “They have great chemistry, they’re playing together, and they’re playing throughout the full 48 minutes. So we got to have a mindset to compete from start to finish, no matter what happens. It’s going to be a great environment.”
One of the keys for the Heat is to find a way to slow the Hornets’ potent offense led by Brandon Miller (20.2 points per game this regular season), LaMelo Ball (20.1 points per game), Kon Knueppel (18.5 points per game) and Miles Bridges (17.1 points per game).
Two of the Hornets’ biggest strengths on the offensive end are their offensive rebounding (NBA’s top offensive rebounding percentage since Jan. 22) and three-point shooting (most three-point shot attempts in the league at 45.6 per game and most three-point makes in the league at 17.8 per game since Jan. 22). On that high volume, Charlotte has the NBA’s second-best team three-point percentage at 39.1 percent since Jan. 22.
The Hornets are 23-7 this season when making 18 or more threes in a game. Charlotte is also 22-9 this season when posting an offensive rebounding percentage (the percentage of available offensive rebounds a team grabs) of 38 percent or better.
“You got to be aware of their shooters,” Adebayo said of the Hornets. “And how they run their offense with such a pace. And sometimes it seems chaotic. You got to be able to maintain through when they make runs. Or if it’s one of those big momentum swings, you got to understand how we can settle and get back in the fight.”
The Heat finished 3-1 against the Hornets this regular season, but two of those wins came in the first three weeks of the schedule before Charlotte turned things around. The Heat then defeated the Hornets in Charlotte 128-120 on March 6 before falling to the Hornets 136-106 in Charlotte on March 17 (Adebayo didn’t play in this matchup).
But Tuesday’s game between the Heat and Hornets will feel different from the others. After all, the losing team’s season will end.
“If we don’t win, it’s over,” Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. “I don’t want this season to end. I love these guys, I love this locker room, and you’re not guaranteed that this is going to be the same team we’re going to have next year. So you want to make the most of it.”
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Anthony Chiang covers the Miami Heat for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and was born and raised in Miami.