CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said LaMelo Ball should have been ejected early in the second quarter after the Charlotte Hornets star point guard yanked Bam Adebayo’s left foot on a rebound, sending the Heat center hard to the floor and injuring his lower back.
Adebayo ended up missing the rest of the game, a 127-126 overtime win by the Hornets in Tuesday night’s play-in game.
Though Spoelstra repeatedly made it clear that the Heat made no excuses for losing what was a thriller, the Miami coach said there’s no place in the game for Ball tripping up Adebayo.
“I didn’t see it [when it happened], but I don’t think it’s cute,” Spoelstra said after the Heat missed the playoffs the first time since the 2018-19 season. “I don’t think it’s funny. I think it’s a stupid play. It’s a dangerous play. Obviously, our best player was out.
“I’m not making an excuse. The Hornets played great and they made those plays down the stretch. We had our opportunities to win. That’s a shame. You should be penalized for that. I don’t think that belongs in the game — tripping guys, shenanigans.”
Ball, who won the game with a go-ahead driving layup with 4.7 seconds left in overtime, apologized twice after the Hornets’ win. Charlotte advances to play the loser of Wednesday night’s play-in game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
“I apologize on that one,” Ball said. “I got hit in the head [on the play] and didn’t really know where I was. But I’m going to check on him, see if he’s OK and everything.”
Ball had a fadeaway shot blocked in the paint, and as Adebayo went for the rebound while trying to stay inbounds, Ball, who fell to the floor near Adebayo, swiped at Adebayo’s foot with his left arm.
Adebayo fell to the floor and remained down for the next play, and Ball scored on a dunk before there was a stoppage with 10:58 remaining in the second quarter. The Heat star eventually walked very gingerly to the locker room.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. started the second half in place of Adebayo, who was later ruled out. Adebayo had six points and three rebounds while making all three of his shots in the first half before leaving the game.
Spoelstra said the officiating crew of Zach Zarba, Curtis Blair and Gediminas Petraitis should’ve seen the trip and thrown Ball out.
“Curtis was there. It’s his responsibility to see that,” Spoelstra said. “And if it’s not his responsibility, then Zach’s got to see it. Somebody has got to see that, and that he should have been thrown out of the game for that. I don’t know him from anyone. There’s no place in the game for that. Obviously, it took Bam out of the game, but that did not deter us. If there’s anything about our locker room, the guys just got into the competition.”
Zarba said the crew could not review the play.
“The play wasn’t whistled in real time,” Zarba said to a pool reporter. “Play continued with a fast break. And because play wasn’t stopped immediately, and there was no whistle on the play, the window to review the play was closed. Play was stopped, after a change of possession, and then a timeout. So, by rule, our window to review that play then is closed.”
Adebayo did not talk to reporters after the game.
“I’ve never really seen him limp like that,” Miami guard Tyler Herro said of Adebayo. “He’s usually a guy that stays in. Tells you how much pain he was in.
“We all know … it was not the right play.”
Spoelstra said the Heat still had plenty of chances to win the game without their best player and Miami felt it would still win. They led 114-111, but Coby White buried a 3 with 10.8 seconds left to tie the score in regulation. Herro missed a 28-foot potential game winner.
In overtime, Herro hit three free throws to give Miami a 126-125 lead with 8.7 seconds left before Ball won the game.
“You might not see all the action in somebody falling, but you saw a frustrated player,” Spoelstra said of Ball after the blocked shot before the injury. “A frustrated player now can do something frustrated, a frustrating action. And that led to taking our best player out of the game, which was unfortunate.
“Now, I repeat again, that had nothing to do with the end. I don’t want to take anything away from the Hornets. They’ve had a fantastic second half of this season, and this was just a great dogfight. Whoever had the ball last to make the play. I mean, we had the last play, but they made it when it really mattered.”
