Charlotte and Miami to meet for play-in game at Spectrum Center
The Charlotte Hornets and the Miami Heat will hit the court in the NBA Playoffs Play-In Tournament on Tuesday night. ALSO READ: Hornets to host Heat in postseason play-in game The winner will advance in the tournament to play for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Charlotte is 11-5 against the Southeast Division, and Miami is 10-7 against division opponents.
The Hornets held a pep rally earlier on Tuesday to get fans ready for something they haven’t experienced in a decade— postseason basketball. The game is a win-or-go-home opportunity to keep the season alive. The Hornets have scratched and clawed their way back from a slow start to be in the Play-In Tournament.
In the last three weeks, they’ve played the top three teams in the East a total of five times, and those were games they needed to win to keep pace with the rest of the play-in field. When the dust settled, the Hornets finished as the No. 9 seed and must win their next two games, with the latter on the road, to advance to the postseason for the first time since the 2015-2016 season.
The team is battle-tested, and head coach Charles Lee said the Hornets are ready. “I love that we got to play some playoff-caliber games and some playoff-caliber environments, and I think it helps our young team,” said coach Lee. “Also, some of them being so young, they know what it’s like to play in that NCAA Tournament, and you’ve got that win-or-go-home mindset.
” BOTTOM LINE: The Hornets host the Heat in the NBA Playoffs Play-In Tournament. The winner moves on in the tournament to play for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Hornets are 26-26 in Eastern Conference games.