Heat-Hornets Play-In Tournament SGP: Bam Adebayo, LaMelo Ball, More

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA - JANUARY 5: Lamelo Ball #1 of the Charlotte Hornets handles the ball during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on January 5, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)

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The NBA Play-In Tournament tips off Tuesday with a Miami Heat-Charlotte Hornets clash that sees the loser immediately eliminated from the postseason.

With a likely closely contested high-stakes matchup on tap, we explore a three-leg same-game parlay that could deliver handsome returns on investment:

(Odds listed are best at time of publishing)

Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets, 7:30 p.m. ET

Same-Game Parlay:

• Heat Alt. Spread + 10.5
• Bam Adebayo To Record 20+ Points
• LaMelo Ball To Record 30+ Points + Rebounds + Assists

Odds: +182 on FanDuel Sportsbook

The Heat travels to Charlotte to face a Hornets squad that they actually dominated during the regular season. Miami took three of the four games from Charlotte during the regular-season series, and they prevailed in those contests by an average margin of 17.7 points.

That sample included a 128-120 win at Spectrum Center on March 6. Led by Tyler Herro’s 33-point outburst and a 24-point, 12-rebound double-double from Bam Adebayo, Erik Spoelstra’s crew snapped their hosts’ six-game winning streak. The Hornets did extract a measure of revenge by blasting the Heat, 136-106, 11 days later, but the visitors were without Adebayo that night.

Notably, the Hornets had a smaller average scoring margin at home (+3.9 points) than on the road (+5.8 points) this season, while the Heat had a 23-18 record against the spread on the road as well, per Team Rankings. With Charlotte favored by a modest 5.5 points for Tuesday’s high-stakes clash, we’re using FanDuel’s Alt. Spread feature on our first leg to give Miami and our parlay more breathing room right out of the gate.

For our second leg, we’re honing in on one of the most productive players for the Heat this season in the aforementioned Adebayo. The 2017 first-round pick enjoyed one of his best all-around campaigns and finished it on a tear, averaging 20.5 points alongside 10.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals over the 15 games following his historic 83-point tally against the Wizards, per RotoWire.

Adebayo also averaged 25.0 points over his two games against the Hornets this season, shooting a solid 47.6% in that span. Charlotte has been very good against centers overall, but in a win-or-go-home game for the Heat, I expect Adebayo to put the offense on his shoulders if necessary and get to at least the 20-point mark for the 40th time since the start of the regular season.

For our third leg, we’ll turn to Ball, who finished the regular season averaging 23.1 points, 7.4 assists and 4.9 rebounds and shooting 37.7% from three-point range over his final 14 games of the campaign. Ball put up 18.1 shot attempts per contest during that span as well, and in three games against Miami, he averaged 38.0 PRA over 31.3 minutes per outing.

The Heat makes for a good target from a positional perspective, as Miami wrapped up the regular season surrendering the second-most assists (10.2) and seventh-most rebounds (6.7) per game to point guards in the final 15 contests, per Fantasy Pros. Then, according to Hoops Stats, Heat also conceded the 11th-highest offensive efficiency rating to point guards for the season (28.3), as well as the seventh-most made threes per road game (14.4).

This article was originally published on Forbes.com