CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball was so excited after delivering a knockout blow to the Miami Heat in Tuesday night’s electric 127-126 play-in tournament win that he carried it over to his victory celebration, delivering two right-hand jabs to the oversized head of Hugo, the Charlotte Hornets’ mascot.
In a wild sequence, Ball avenged two critical mistakes just seconds earlier by scoring on a driving right-handed layup with 4.7 seconds left, and Charlotte prevailed after Miles Bridges blocked Davion Mitchell’s layup attempt on the other of the court as time expired. That set off a wild celebration on the court involving players, coaches and fans as the team earned its first home postseason win in a decade.
Ball celebrated at midcourt, flexing after the winning layup. Local television station WBTV caught video of the hyped point guard delivering two seemingly playful blows at Hugo before embracing teammate Coby White in a bear hug. Hugo simply walked away.
Ball was the center of attention all night, and it remained uncertain if he could face disciplinary action from the league ahead of Charlotte’s next play-in game on Friday night after it appeared he took a swipe at the leg of Bam Adebayo early in the second quarter, causing the Heat center to fall on his back.
Ball was not called for a foul and play continued. Adebayo did not return because of a lower back injury, playing just 11 minutes.
Afterward, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said Ball should have been ejected.
Ball apologized after the game and said he was disoriented on the play after getting hit in the head seconds before on a drive to the basket.
The ninth-seeded Hornets play on the road against the loser of Wednesday’s night game between Orlando and Philadelphia as they look to snap a 10-year playoff drought.
“We drew up a good play, I feel like. Just orchestrated it and it worked,” Ball said of the winning shot.
Ball was not asked about punching the mascot after the game; the video of it had not surfaced at that point.
“The crowd was amazing,” Ball said of the sold-out crowd. “Everyone who came out today was real loud, so it was a good crowd.”
Charlotte was able to get to overtime after White hit an off-balanced 3-pointer from the corner with 10.8 seconds left to tie the game, and Miami’s Tyler Herro missed a jumper at the end of regulation.
The Hornets surrendered a five-point lead in OT behind two Ball blunders.
After Herro drained a turnaround 3 in the corner, Ball turned the ball over at midcourt and then fouled Herro on a 3-point attempt. Herro made all three free throws to briefly give Miami a 126-125 lead, setting up Ball’s theatrics on an inbounds play.
“We just stayed together throughout it all, it was an up-and-down game. But that’s what the play-in is about,” Bridges said. “… We did a great job executing on offense, LaMelo did a great job getting a layup, and then we executed on defense on the other end.”
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA