The Charlotte Hornets beat the Miami Heat 127-126 in an overtime thriller at Spectrum Center on Tuesday to stay alive in the play-in tournament. LaMelo Ball was the hero after hitting the game-winner in the closing stages of overtime, but he was also at the center of controversy on the night.
Ball fell to the floor after a drive to the basket in the second quarter and then grabbed Bam Adebayo’s left leg, causing the Heat star to fall on his back. Adebayo stayed down as the game continued, and the Heat eventually had to call a timeout to take him out. The three-time All-Star was able to walk to the locker room but did not return to the game, with the team ruling him out with a lower back injury.
That was dangerous on Ball’s part, but it did seem unintentional. The 24-year-old was also given the benefit of the doubt, as he has never really been viewed as a dirty player.
Interestingly, though, a clip from January 2024 started doing the rounds on social media not long after the game ended. In it, we can quite clearly see Ball intentionally trying to trip Adebayo.
Lamelo Ball tries to trip Bam and didnt get a tech… pic.twitter.com/KhINy1A8Im
— Heat Clips 🎬 (@MiamiClip) January 15, 2024
That’s not a good look, but it’s still just two incidents in Ball’s six-year NBA career. It would be harsh to call him a dirty player just based on this.
Ball also apologized for tripping Adebayo after the game. The one-time All-Star claimed he had gotten hit on the head and didn’t really know where he was in that instance.
Now, Ball had gotten away scot-free back in 2024, and that proved to be the case here as well. He wasn’t ejected and didn’t even get slapped with a flagrant foul.
Unsurprisingly, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra wasn’t too happy about that. Spoelstra called out Ball after the game and made it clear he should have been ejected. As for why he wasn’t, crew chief Zach Zarba explained that because play wasn’t stopped immediately and there was no whistle, the window to review the incident had closed. None of the officials had seen the trip in real time, so Ball got away with it.
Whether the trip on Adebayo, who had six points (3-3 FG), three rebounds, one assist, and one steal on the night, was intentional or not, his early exit proved to be a massive blow to the Heat. He is their best player and rebounder, and his absence helped the Hornets haul in 17 offensive rebounds. They converted those into 25 second-chance points.
This loss ended the Heat’s streak of consecutive playoff appearances at six. This is also the first time they have been eliminated in the play-in tournament.
As for the Hornets, this was the first time they won a game in the tournament. Ball led the way with 30 points (12-31 FG), five rebounds, 10 assists, one steal, and one block. He had almost cost the Hornets the game by turning the ball over late and then fouling Tyler Herro as he attempted a three-pointer. Fortunately for Ball, he was able to make amends with that game-winner.
The Hornets will next take on the loser of Wednesday’s game between the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers and the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic. A spot in the playoffs will be on the line then.
