Hornets seek first playoff berth in 10 years with Pistons on horizon

Coby White forced overtime by draining a 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds left for the Hornets, who survived Tyler Herro's errant 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Charlotte squandered a five-point lead in the final 26 seconds of the extra session before Ball – who was fined $35,000 on Wednesday for what was assessed upon review as a flagrant 2 foul on Bam Adebayo that forced the Heat star from the game in the second quarter - scored the winning points.

Miles Bridges blocked a layup by Davion Mitchell at the buzzer, after which Ball capped his expensive night by uttering a profanity during a live interview. The 24-year-old was also fined $25,000 for the profanity.

"At the end of the day, execution is not always going to be perfect," Hornets head coach Charles Lee said. "But I think that these guys find a way to stick with it and not give in sometimes when things aren't going well or not going your way."

Things have not gone the way the Magic anticipated when they began the season as one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference. Orlando won just four more games than last season despite the addition of Desmond Bane, who played all 82 games, and the return to the lineup of Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs, who missed a combined 83 games in 2024-25.

The Magic, who are attempting to make the playoffs for the third straight season, squandered an opportunity to earn home court against Philadelphia by falling to the Celtics – who sat their top seven scorers - in Sunday's regular season finale. Orlando shot 39.6% from the field in the loss.

Orlando then shot 40.7% on Wednesday – the first time the Magic has shot below 41% in back-to-back games since consecutive losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers from Jan. 24-26.

"You live with the result and come out Friday in front of the home crowd and go get a win," Banchero said. "That's all you can do. Shots didn't fall, but you can't be discouraged. We've got another game coming up real soon."

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Charlotte Hornets seek first playoff berth in 10 years in play-in game