![\"LaMelo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271377466.jpg\" "\\"LaMelo")
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LaMelo Ball #1 of the Charlotte Hornets drives to the basket while guarded by Andrew Wiggins #22 of the Miami Heat in the first half during their game at Spectrum Center on April 14, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina.<\/p>\n
Jacob Kupferman<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA<\/p>\n
Five takeaways from the Miami Heat\u2019s 127-126 season-ending overtime loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night at Spectrum Center in a win-or-go-home play-in tournament game:<\/p>\n
After losing captain and three-time All-Star center Bam Adebayo to a lower back injury early in the second quarter, the Heat still battled to keep its season alive. But in the end, the Heat\u2019s play-in magic and season is over.<\/p>\n
After qualifying for the playoffs through the NBA\u2019s play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons, the Heat couldn\u2019t do it for a fourth straight year.<\/p>\n
The Heat led by four points with 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but the Hornets rallied to force overtime behind a clutch game-tying three-pointer from Coby White with 10.8 seconds left in regulation.<\/p>\n
The Hornets then outscored the Heat 13-12 in overtime to escape with the one-point win.<\/p>\n
It was a dramatic back-and-forth affair until the final possession of the contest, as the Hornets looked to be in control with a five-point lead and just 26 left in overtime.<\/p>\n
But Heat guard Tyler Herro scored six straight points on a corner three-pointer and three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt to give Miami a one-point advantage with 8.7 seconds left in overtime.<\/p>\n
The Hornets then called timeout to draw up a play for guard LaMelo Ball, and it worked. Ball got to the basket and scored on a tough layup to put Charlotte back ahead by one point with 4.7 seconds remaining overtime.<\/p>\n
With no timeouts remaining, the Heat had no choice but to race down the court and try to put up a shot to win the game before the overtime buzzer sounded. But Heat guard Davion Mitchell\u2019s layup was blocked by Miles Bridges, clinching the Hornets\u2019 win.<\/p>\n
With the Heat needing to win back-to-back elimination play-in tournament games just to make the playoffs as the Eastern Conference\u2019s No. 8 seed after finishing the regular season in 10th place in the East, the Heat couldn\u2019t get past the first elimination play-in game this time.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s loss ended the Heat\u2019s season and streak of six consecutive seasons in the playoffs. This is the first season that the Heat has missed the playoffs since the 2018-19 campaign.<\/p>\n
With the win, the Hornets advance to take on the loser of Wednesday\u2019s play-in tournament matchup between the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers. The Hornets will travel to either Orlando or Philadelphia to take on the loser of Wednesday\u2019s contest in another win-or-go-home play-in game on Friday, and the winner of Friday\u2019s matchup will be the East\u2019s No. 8 playoff seed.<\/p>\n
The Heat battled hard to try to survive playing without Adebayo for most of Tuesday\u2019s game, but ultimately couldn\u2019t close the door on the Hornets. Adebayo left Tuesday\u2019s play-in contest with 10:58 in the second quarter and did not return after suffering a lower back injury on a hard fall.<\/p>\n
The game was competitive from start to finish, as it included 16 lead changes and 17 ties.<\/p>\n
The Heat managed to enter halftime with a narrow 54-52 lead despite Adebayo\u2019s exit early in the second quarter.<\/p>\n
The Heat even pulled ahead by five points with 3:56 left in the third quarter, but the Hornets closed the period on a 15-4 run to take a six-point lead into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
It looked like the Hornets were then going to pull away from the Heat, pushing their lead to eight points with 10:22 to play.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s when the Heat went on a timely 17-2 run to flip the game and take a seven-point lead with 6:17 left in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
After the Hornets issued their own response to tie the score at 102 with 4:27 to play, Andrew Wiggins hit back-to-back threes to put the Heat back ahead by six points with 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
But overtime was still needed to decide the game, even after Jaime Jaquez Jr. made one of two free throws to put the Heat ahead by four points 28 seconds to play.<\/p>\n
Hornets forward Brandon Miller came right back down and hit in an above-the-break three-pointer to cut the deficit to just one point with 18.6 seconds left.<\/p>\n
The Hornets then intentionally fouled Heat guard Tyler Herro with 12.9 seconds to play to preserve the clock. Herro made both free throws to extend the Heat\u2019s lead to three.<\/p>\n
With one final chance to send the game to overtime, Hornets guard Coby White delivered in the clutch to make a contested three-pointer in front of the Heat\u2019s bench to tie the score at 114 with 10.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
The Heat still had an opportunity to avoid overtime, but Herro missed what would have been a game-winning three-pointer at the fourth-quarter buzzer.<\/p>\n
The Hornets then won the game in overtime by one point.<\/p>\n
Ball led the Hornets, totaling a game-high 30 points, five rebounds and 10 assists.<\/p>\n
Mitchell scored a team-high 28 points for the Heat on. Wiggins added 27 points and Herro finished with 23 points.<\/p>\n
After going away from the Adebayo-Ware frontcourt in recent weeks, the Heat began the postseason with a double-big starting lineup.<\/p>\n
The Heat opened Tuesday\u2019s play-in contest with a starting lineup of Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo and Kel\u2019el Ware.<\/p>\n
It marked just the second game that this lineup has started this season, with this group\u2019s first start coming in Sunday\u2019s regular-season finale.<\/p>\n
This five-man group had only played seven minutes together this season prior to making its first start of the season together on Sunday.<\/p>\n
But that lineup\u2019s only stint of the game came to begin the contest since Adebayo did not play the final three quarters due to his lower back injury.<\/p>\n
The Heat outscored the Hornets 13-12 in the 5:01 that this lineup played on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Using the Adebayo-Ware frontcourt to begin the postseason represented a vote of confidence from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra after he went away from the double-big look at times this season. While Adebayo is fixture in the Heat\u2019s starting lineup, Ware has toggled between starting alongside Adebayo and playing as the backup center off the bench in his second NBA season.<\/p>\n
But Spoelstra started Adebayo and Ware together in each of the final two regular-season games and stuck with the Adebayo-Ware frontcourt for Tuesday\u2019s postseason opener.<\/p>\n
Adebayo\u2019s early exit changed Tuesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
Adebayo took a hard fall on his backside while trying to save a ball from going out of bounds in the opening minute of the second quarter. Ball appeared to trip Adebayo, with Ball swiping and making contact with Adebayo\u2019s sneaker.<\/p>\n
Adebayo stayed down on the court writhing in pain, forcing the Heat to call a timeout.<\/p>\n
During the timeout, the entire Heat team went over to check on Adebayo. he eventually stood up and walked slowly back to the locker room., but has yet to return to the team\u2019s bench.<\/p>\n
Adebayo recorded six points, three rebounds and one assist in 12 minutes before exiting Tuesday\u2019s game<\/p>\n
Jaime Jaquez Jr. started the second half in Adebayo\u2019s place.<\/p>\n
With Adebayo out for most of Tuesday\u2019s contest, the Heat needed to rely on Ware to play a bigger role.<\/p>\n
Ware was impressive in the season-ending loss, finishing with 12 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks in 42 minutes.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s loss means the Heat will be part of the May 10 NBA Draft Lottery.<\/p>\n
The Heat will either have a 4.8 percent or 7.1 percent chance to land a top-four selection in the first round of the draft, depending on how the Phoenix Suns fare on the Western Conference side of the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n
If the Suns make the playoffs, the Heat would be the 13th lottery seed and have a 4.8 percent chance of a top-four pick and a 1 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick. In that scenario, Miami would select ahead of the other Eastern Conference team that misses the playoffs.<\/p>\n
If the Suns miss the playoffs, the Heat would be the 12th lottery seed and have 7.1 percent chance of a top-four pick and a 1.5 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick.<\/p>\n
The reason for that: If the Suns and Heat miss the playoffs, two lottery teams would have better records than the Heat \u2014 Phoenix and the other Eastern Conference team (besides Miami) that misses the playoffs. Those teams would be 13th and 14th, meaning the Heat would be slotted 12th.<\/p>\n
The NBA Draft Lottery determines only the top four picks. Every other pick is based on inverse order of records.<\/p>\n
So now that the Heat won\u2019t be in the playoffs, it will either have the first, second, third, fourth, 12th, 13th or (unlikely) 14th pick in this year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n
The last time the Heat was in the draft lottery, it came away with the 13th pick in 2019. Miami used that selection to draft Herro.<\/p>\n
Since Pat Riley joined the organization in 1995, the Heat has only made a top-four pick in the draft came in 2008. Miami selected Michael Beasley with the No. 2 overall pick in 2008.<\/p>\n
The Heat also has a second-round pick in this year\u2019s draft, which comes at No. 41 overall. This is the second-round pick that the Heat received from the Hornets to resolve a dispute over Terry Rozier being under NBA and federal investigation over alleged gambling when Charlotte traded him to Miami in January 2024.<\/p>\n
The two-day NBA Draft will take place on June 23 and 24 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
The Heat enters an offseason that will again be filled with important roster decisions.<\/p>\n
Aside from being armed with a lottery pick and a second-round selection in this year\u2019s draft, the Heat also already has 12 players under standard contracts for next season: Adebayo, Herro, Wiggins, Mitchell, Nikola Jovic, Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, Dru Smith (fully nonguaranteed $2.6 million for next season), Pelle Larsson ($2.3 million team option), Myron Gardner ($250,000 of $2.6 million salary guaranteed for next season) and Jahmir Young (fully nonguaranteed $2.4 million for next season).<\/p>\n
The only three players on the Heat\u2019s season-ending 15-man standard roster who are set to enter free agency this upcoming summer are Powell (unrestricted free agent), Simone Fontecchio (unrestricted free agent) and Keshad Johnson (restricted free agent).<\/p>\n
However, Wiggins can become a free agent this upcoming summer because he has a $30.2 million player option in his contract that he must decide on by June 29.<\/p>\n
The Heat also has a few extension decisions to make.<\/p>\n
Herro, who still has one more year left on his current contract, is eligible to sign an extension worth as much as $206.9 million over four seasons this offseason. That negotiating window will open July 1, 2026 and close on June 30, 2027.<\/p>\n
Powell is already eligible for an extension worth as much as $128.5 million over four years. If Powell can\u2019t agree to an extension with the Heat by June 30, he would become an unrestricted free agent this summer.<\/p>\n
Jaquez, who still has one more season left on his rookie-scale contract, is eligible for a five-year extension at a maximum of about $245 million this summer. That negotiating window begins on July 1, 2026 and closes the day before the start of the 2026-27 regular season.<\/p>\n
Larsson becomes eligible to sign an extension with the Heat starting on July 6 after the Heat picks up the option in his contract ahead of the June 29 option deadline, and the window to sign an extension remains open until June 30, 2027. He\u2019ll become eligible to sign an extension worth up to $93 million over four years this summer.<\/p>\n
All the while, the Heat is expected to again pursue a trade for disgruntled Milwaukee Bucks two-time NBA MVP and nine-time All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason.<\/p>\n
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