CHARLOTTE, N.C. – LaMelo Ball was so excited after delivering a knockout blow to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night electric 127-126 play-in tournament win that he took it with him to his victory celebration, delivering two right punches to the oversized head of Hugo, the Charlotte Hornets mascot.
In a wild sequence, Ball avenged two critical errors just seconds earlier by scoring on one right-handed layup drive with 4.7 seconds left, and Charlotte had the upper hand after Miles Bridges blocked Davion Mitchell’s layup attempt at the other end of the court as time expired. That sparked a wild celebration on the field involving players, coaches and fans as a team earned his first home postseason victory in a decade.
Ball celebrated at center half, bending after the winning lay-up. Local television station WBTV captured video of the hyped point guard delivering two seemingly playful punches to Hugo before embracing teammate Coby White in a bear hug. Hugo just walked away.
Jacob Kupferman via Getty Images
Ball was the center of attention all evening, and it remained uncertain whether he would face disciplinary action from the league ahead of Charlotte’s next play-in game on Friday night after it emerged he took a swipe at Bam Adebayo’s leg early in the second quarter, sending the Heat center onto his back.
The ball was not called due to a foul and play continued. Adebayo did not return due to a lower back injury and played only 11 minutes.
That’s what Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said afterwards The ball should have been thrown out.
Ball apologized after the game, saying he was disoriented during the play after being hit in the head while driving to the basket seconds earlier.
The ninth-seeded Hornets will play the loser of Wednesday night’s game between Orlando and Philadelphia on the road as they look to break a 10-year playoff drought.
“We came up with a good play, I think. I just orchestrated it and it worked,” Ball said of the game-winning shot.
Ball was not asked if he would hit the mascot after the game; the video of it had not yet surfaced at that time.
“The crowd was amazing,” Ball said of the sold-out crowd. “Everyone who came out today was really loud, so it was a good crowd.”
Charlotte was able to reach overtime after White hit an off-balance 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 time.
The Hornets gave up a five-point lead in OT after 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 three-point attempt. Herro made all three free throws to briefly give Miami a 126-125 lead, setting off Ball’s theatrics on an inbounds play.
“We stuck together the whole time, it was an up and down game. But that’s what the play-in is all about,” Bridges said. “… We did a great job on offense, LaMelo did a great job making a layup, and then we executed defense on the other end.”
