In order to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the No. 9 seed Charlotte Hornets will need to win a pair of games this week in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
The first of those games is set for Tuesday when they host the No. 10 seed Miami Heat in an elimination game.
The Hornets (44-38) finished with their largest single-season win total since 2015-16 and have been one of the league’s best teams since Jan. 1, going 33-16 to end the season.
Miami (43-39) won the season series against Charlotte 3-1, but the Hornets won the last meeting 136-106 at home on March 17. The Heat were short-handed in that matchup minus standout center Bam Adebayo, who sat out with right calf tightness.
The winner between Charlotte and Miami will go on the road to face the loser of Wednesday’s matchup between the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers and No. 8 seed Orlando Magic on Friday for the eighth and final playoff spot. The loser will be eliminated from the postseason.
Miami closed the regular season with a 143-117 win over the visiting and resting Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 26 points off the bench, while Adebayo and Norman Powell added 25 apiece.
The Heat finished the season with a team-record 9,911 points but remained the 10th seed after Charlotte beat the host New York Knicks 110-96 on Sunday.
“We’re here, and now we just have to make the most of this,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “There’s no other way than just to absolutely go for it.”
Powell averages 21.7 points to lead Miami, which can lean on its past success in the play-in tournament. Spoelstra has guided his team out of the play-in and into the playoffs in each of the past three seasons.
“It’s a Game 7,” Spoelstra said ahead of Tuesday’s game. “So, I just want our guys to take on that challenge and do whatever is necessary to get that one. You can’t think ahead of it, you can’t think of two up, two down. You have to stay in the absolute present moment of every single possession.”
The game features a contrast in styles between the physical Heat and a Charlotte team that is second in the league in 3-point percentage since Jan. 1 (38.7%).
“(Miami) lives in the paint, they live on the free-throw line as well,” Hornets guard Coby White said. “So, we’ve got to play defense, stay between them and around but also playing defense without fouling is a big key. For us, it’s just playing with pace, being solid on the defensive end. And I think we’ll have a great opportunity.”
Charlotte guards Kon Knueppel and LaMelo Ball finished the season ranking first and second, respectively, in total 3-pointers made. Knueppel made 273 3-pointers and became the first rookie to ever lead the NBA in the category.
Brandon Miller (20.2 points per game) and Ball (20.1) lead a high-scoring Hornets team that hopes to learn from its previous meetings against Miami.
“The ones that we lost, they were beating us to offensive rebounds, had a lot of points in the paint,” Charlotte forward Miles Bridges said. “And the game we beat them, we limited their offensive rebounds, we limited their paint points, and Tyler Herro had a tough time when we played. So, we’ve just got to make it tough for Tyler and Bam and let other guys beat us.”
