LaMelo Ball is probably the single most uniquely gifted and frustrating player in the NBA, and on Tuesday night he gave us the full experience in what might go down as the wildest game you see this entire postseason. First, the essentials: The Charlotte Hornets somehow beat the Miami Heat, 127-126, in overtime to win the East’s No. 9 vs. No. 10 play-in game. The Heat were eliminated. The Hornets will play either the Magic or the 76ers in a do-or-die game for the East’s No. 8 seed on Friday. Now, back to Ball, who literally went from losing the game for the Hornets to winning it for them in a span of about 12 seconds. First, after Tyler Herro sunk a corner 3 that left Charlotte clinging to a two-point lead, Ball wasn’t even able to get the ball across half court before coughing it up with a telegraphed, desperately weak pass intended for Sion James that wound up in the hands of Pelle Larsson with 16 seconds to play. Then, just for good measure, he turned around and fouled Herro on a 3-point attempt on the other end.
Herro sunk all three free throws, and just like that, the Hornets went from having the game in hand to needing a game-winning bucket to survive. Which, of course, Ball promptly delivered.
Look at Ball’s box score and it’s a wonderful mess of huge numbers: 30 points on 31 shots, 10 assists, 2 of 16 from 3 in 40 minutes. If you’re a Ball hater, he gave you plenty of material for your morning water-cooler rant — firing up one-legged 3s like he’s in the driveway and missing just about every one of them, getting targeted on ball and losing his man off ball on defense. And of course, with the game on the line, he decided to get fancy with his handle instead of taking the small angle he had won the first time he turned Mitchell and getting the damn thing across half court. Ball isn’t programmed to do anything the simple way. Going between the legs a second time, and in doing so turning directly back into the teeth of an incoming trap, is the downside of a mix-tape maniac having his hand on the switch of your season. That said, some freelancing fumbles are just part of the deal with Ball. It’s baked into his wild equation, which has been an overwhelmingly positive one for the Hornets all season. With Ball on the floor this year, Charlotte outscored opponents by just under 10 points per 100 possessions, per Cleaning the Glass, with an offense in the 97th…
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2026-04-15 06:05:01
