It will be a clean slate for the Miami Heat ahead of a win or go home play-in duel on the road versus the Charlotte Hornets.
Despite another inconsistent campaign for this Heat team, all of that gets wiped away for this moment to still get a chance at punching a ticket into the NBA Playoffs. The winner of this Heat-Hornets 9-10 matchup will go on to face the loser of the 7-8 matchup with a postseason berth on the line. However, the loser will have their season officially end.
Over all these years, Miami has successfully escaped the play-in landscape every time. This will be their fourth straight year in this situation, and the second consecutive as the 10th seed— where two straight road wins will be necessary to move on and keep their season alive. The Heat don’t care about how they got here. The disappointing losses during this 2025-26 campaign don’t matter anymore. All that matters is they still have a chance, and that’s the magic of the play-in opportunity.
Miami has gone 3-1 against the Hornets this year.
Charlotte made a second half of season push to get themselves into this position, but they have cooled off since. They are only 6-4 over their last 10 games to finish the year, coming into this matchup with a final 44-38 record. The Heat are coming off two straight wins to finish their season, and coach Erik Spoelstra has seemingly made a last minute call at re-inserting Kel’el Ware back with the starters. Miami is 20-14 in games this season where Ware starts and 23-25 in games that he doesn’t. We’ll see if Spoelstra doubles down on leaning into an extended role for the big man closer to tip-off.
Tonight’s crucial win or go home outing will be aired on NBA on Prime, with coverage beginning at 7:00 PM EST.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Charlotte Hornets:
- None (all players currently listed as available)
Miami Heat:
- Pelle Larsson (leg) — QUESTIONABLE
- Nikola Jovic (ankle) — OUT
- Dru Smith (foot) — OUT
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Charlotte Hornets:
- LaMelo Ball, G
- Brandon Miller, G
- Kon Knueppel, F
- Miles Bridges, F
- Moussa Diabate, C
Miami Heat:
- Davion Mitchell, G
- Tyler Herro, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Bam Adebayo, F/C
- Kel’el Ware, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST
- TV: NBA on Prime
- Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
- Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)
Come back to Hot Hot Hoops at game time to join our GameThread and chat about the game live with other Heat fans!
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I remember back in the good ol days when postseason games were on free tv and ticket prices to events were affordable. Nevermore.
concerts to ridiculous.
sad the season came to this but we need some folks to look in the mirror and say “i dont wanna be an asshole anymore”
LaMelo zesty ahh ain’t winning tonight
Here we are. Where we thought we would be. Rumor is the NBA is going to name the play-in after the Heat. 😛
Let’s see who steps up. Here’s to hoping the Ware-wolf is unleashed Go HEAT!
with spobot ware leash still on