In a thrilling double-overtime game between the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets, the Heat came away with the win. The Heat is the 4th oldest team in the NBA and the experience on the roster showed in the final moments of the game. The Heat was down 11 points at one point in the 4th quarter but rallied back to tie the game.
A lot of credit goes to the Hornets who challenged the top-seeded Heat throughout the game. They were led by their young stars LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges. LaMelo had a triple-double with 14 points,14 assists, and 10 rebounds. Bridges had a game-high 29 points along with 11 rebounds. He also hit some huge shots towards the end of the game. The Hornets had 3 other players with double-digit scoring – Montrezl Harrell (24 points and 8 rebounds), PJ Washington (15 points and 14 rebounds), and Kelly Oubre Jr (15 points).
Ultimately it wasn’t enough to win the game. The Heat had 6 players with double-digit scoring and was led by their veterans Jimmy Butler (15 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists) and Kyle Lowry (25 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists). Bam Adebayo and PJ Tucker both had 15 point double-doubles while their 3 point sniper, Duncan Robinson logged 21 points. Omer Yurtseven was the 6th player in double digits with 10 points in just 14 minutes. The ties the Heat with the Chicago Bulls as the teams with the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The game came to an end when Lowry had a layup to put the Heat up by 4 and Kelly Oubre Jr missed the 3 point shot with 16 seconds left. The Hornets were forced to foul but couldn’t make the 3 pointers in the end. The game was one of the most exciting games this season and while we know what the Heat are as a team this game says a lot about a young Hornets team. It is very promising that the Hornets are playing this well against top teams in the league when they are nowhere near their ceiling.
