Hornets Douse Heat in Overtime Thriller, Trail Blazers Eclipse Suns With Big Fourth Quarter Comeback
The NBA Play-In Tournament has produced more than its share of boring blowouts, but Tuesday night featured two competitive and exciting games. The action opened with the Charlotte Hornets' 127-126 overtime win versus the Miami Heat--an instant classic featuring 16 lead changes, 17 ties, and many clutch plays by both teams. LaMelo Ball not only scored a game-high 30 points, but he delivered the game-winning shot on a powerful drive to the hoop with 4.7 seconds left in overtime. The Heat had no timeouts, so Davion Mitchell raced to the hoop to try to score, but Miles Bridges swatted away his layup attempt as time expired.
Ball shot just 12-31 from the field--including 2-16 from three point range--but in addition to the game-winning shot he had a game-high 10 assists plus the game's second best plus/minus number (+15). Bridges had 28 points and nine rebounds while shooting 5-10 from three point range. Brandon Miller contributed 23 points, five rebounds, and five assists while also shooting 5-10 from three point range. Coby White scored 19 points, shot 5-8 from three point range, and notched the game's best plus/minus number (+21).
Mitchell paced the Heat with 28 points, Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points, and Tyler Herro added 23 points despite shooting just 7-18 from the field. Kal'el Ware had 12 points, a game-high 19 rebounds, and a game-high five blocked shots. Norman Powell--the Heat's only All-Star this season--scored 11 points in just 19 minutes and was the only Heat player who had a double digit plus/minus number (+11).
The Hornets took a 26-18 lead at the 3:33 mark of the first quarter on the strength of offensive rebounding and three point shooting, but the Heat trimmed the deficit to 26-24 by the end of the first quarter, foreshadowing how this game would be a back and forth struggle.
The Hornets led 30-26 at the 10:58 mark of the second quarter when Ball seemed to grab the ankle of an off balance Bam Adebayo, who went crashing to the floor and left the game with a lower back injury--but no foul was called on the play, and the referees did not review the sequence, much to the chagrin of Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. Lead referee Zach Zarba explained to Amazon Prime's Cassidy Hubbarth that a change of possession had happened before the referees had a chance to stop play, so by rule they were not able to review what happened. Adebayo had six points, three rebounds, and a +1 plus/minus number in 11 minutes up to that point.
The Heat battled back to go up 39-37 midway through the second quarter, and they enjoyed a 54-52 halftime lead. Mitchell and Wiggins led the Heat with 10 first half points each, while Ball scored 17 first half points for the Hornets, who shot just 7-21 (.333) from beyond the arc.
The Hornets made a 10-0 run to take an 84-79 lead at the 1:28 mark of the third quarter. During the ensuing timeout, Hubbarth reported that Adebayo would not return to the game. The Hornets pushed the margin to eight (93-85) early in the fourth quarter before the Heat countered with a 12-0 run to take a 97-93 lead with 7:25 remaining in regulation. Herro's three pointer at the 2:16 mark put the Heat up 111-105, but Bridges' three pointer cut the lead in half and then Miller drained a three pointer after Jaime Jaquez Jr. split a pair of free throws. Herro made two free throws to put Miami up 114-111. The Hornets called timeout, and then White hit a tough three pointer from the corner to tie the score; an interesting aspect of that play is that Kon Knueppel--who led the NBA this season with 273 three point field goals made, setting the NBA rookie record and the Charlotte franchise record--was relegated to the bench and not even used as a decoy. Knueppel did not play at all in the overtime, and he finished with just six points on 2-12 field goal shooting, including 0-6 from beyond the arc. Herro's three pointer at the buzzer was off the mark, sending the game to overtime.
The Hornets led 123-118 at the 1:33 mark of overtime, but Herro went on a 6-0 run to give the Heat a 126-125 lead with 8.7 seconds remaining. Herro's burst included three clutch free throws after being fouled by Ball on a three point field goal attempt. Ball made up for his foul gaffe by scoring the game-winning layup.
In the second game of Amazon Prime's doubleheader, Deni Avdija poured in a game-high 41 points on 15-22 field goal shooting while also dishing for a game-high 12 assists and grabbing seven rebounds to power the Portland Trail Blazers to a 114-110 road win versus the Phoenix Suns. This clinched Portland's first playoff berth since 2021. The Suns can still make the playoffs with a victory on Friday night versus the winner of Wednesday night's L.A. Clippers-Golden State Warriors game. Avdija looked like an in-shape, healthy Luka Doncic as he repeatedly broke down the Suns' defense with dribble drives culminating in shots in the paint, drawn fouls, or passes deftly sprayed to open perimeter shooters. Two-time NBA champion Jrue Holiday added 21 points, while Jerami Grant exploded for 16 points off of the bench in 19 minutes.
Jalen Green paced the Suns with 35 points. Devin Booker scored an inefficient 22 points, shooting just 7-17 from the field and 8-13 from the free throw line. Dillon Brooks had 20 points on 6-10 field goal shooting before fouling out with 16.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The Suns jumped out to a 14-7 lead by the 8:40 mark of the first quarter, and it looked like the moment might be a little too big for the young Trail Blazers, but Avdija settled his team down with 12 points and five assists in the second quarter as the Trail Blazers forged a 55-41 lead at the 5:23 mark of the second quarter after Grant made a three pointer. The Suns did not let the game get out of reach, and they pulled to within 65-62 by halftime. Green scored 22 first half points, while Avdija had 16 points and seven assists.
The Trail Blazers pushed their lead to 11 points twice during the third quarter, but they clung to an 83-82 lead heading into the final stanza. Green's jumper at the 11:44 mark of the fourth quarter gave the Suns their first lead of the second half, 84-83. The Suns extended their margin to 11 points twice during the fourth quarter, but an 8-0 Portland run slashed the lead to 100-97 with 4:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. At that point, Donovan Clingan committed a flagrant foul against Brooks, who sank two free throws to extend the Suns' lead to 102-97. Green's three pointer with 3:31 to go put the Suns up 105-97, but a 7-0 Portland run in the next 1:02 made the score 105-104. Booker split a pair of free throws and Grant answered with a three pointer to put the Trail Blazers up 107-106. The lead changed hands four times in the final 1:34, with Avdija putting the Trail Blazers up for good with driving layup with 16.1 seconds remaining. Green missed a long three pointer on the Suns' final possession, and then Grant ended the scoring with a fast break dunk.
In my NBA Play-Tournament preview, I picked Charlotte to beat Miami and Phoenix to beat Portland, so I am 1-1 so far.
Labels: Charlotte Hornets, Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, LaMelo Ball, Miami Heat, Miles Bridges, NBA Play-In Tournament, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers
posted by David Friedman @ 2:58 AM
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