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Jason Beede: FINAL: #Magic 121, Hornets 90 Orlando survives and advances past Charlotte and into the first round of the NBA playoffs. Game 1 at Detroit is set for Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on NBC.
While the Hornets' playoff stay isn't likely to last as long -- Charlotte needs to win Friday just to set up a first-round meeting with the top-seeded Detroit Pistons -- Ball entering the playoffs with two flagrant points would have at least given heft to the belated punishment. Instead, the decision felt fairly hollow. And in asking sources around the league Wednesday ahead of the NBA's announcement that Ball wouldn't be suspended, opinions were mixed. Some argued that a hefty fine would suffice, because you shouldn't retroactively remove him from the next game because of Adebayo's unfortunate injury. Others argued the opposite, saying he should have to sit out Friday's win-and-in showdown.
Ball and Knueppel have formed a Hornets 3-point shooting duo of the future that has a new-age Splash Brothers feel to it. Charlotte has been perhaps the best story of the NBA season and authored the most surprising turnaround with a potent starting five that includes the emerging Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate. The Hornets won 44 games after totaling just 19 wins a season ago. Only the Spurs have had a bigger turnaround this season. "Nobody's thinking that playing Charlotte is going to be an easy walkover game," Knueppel told ESPN. "Which it has been the last couple years."
“Nobody’s thinking that playing Charlotte is going to be an easy walkover game,” Knueppel told ESPN. “Which it has been the last couple years.”
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Ira Winderman: So basically, all healthy for Charlotte against visiting Miami on Tuesday night: INJURY REPORT: @hornets vs MIA 4/14 PJ Hall (R Ankle Surgery) is out
Adam Lichtenstein: At Heat practice before they travel to Charlotte for their play-in matchup. Everyone practiced besides Nikola Jovic, Dru Smith and Pelle Larsson. Larsson is going through a separate, individual workout after missing Sunday’s game with a leg bruise.
While the daily hustle is just beginning for many, evidenced by the amount of foot traffic spotted passing by through the glass windows of the hotel’s restaurant, Jeff Peterson settles in to momentarily enjoy the Hornets’ metamorphosis and enthusiasm engulfing the franchise. “It’s been awesome,” Peterson, the Hornets’ president basketball operations, told The Charlotte Observer. “I knew when I took the job that Charlotte has one of the most robust and passionate fan bases. I think the original Hornets led the league in attendance in eight straight years or something like that. This area of the country, the Carolinas, is very passionate about basketball. So, it makes me happy because the fans deserve it.
The Majors Detroit: FINAL: Pistons 137, Bucks 111 Cade Cunningham returned and immediately made an impact: 13 PTS 10 AST 5 REB Detroit improves to 58-22 and needs wins over Charlotte and Indiana to reach 60 victories for the first time in nearly two decades.
Kellan Olson: Mark Williams has been upgraded to questionable for tomorrow's Suns game against the Hornets. No additions for Phoenix. Haywood Highsmith and Amir Coffey remain out. No notable injury designations for Charlotte.
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Tim Bontemps: Jaylen Brown is out for a second straight game with Achilles tendinitis tonight in Charlotte, per the Celtics. Derrick White is also questionable. Boston is two games up in the loss column on New York for second in the East.
Matt Murphy: Some great @sixers news: Tyrese Maxey is AVAILABLE tonight in Charlotte. Pregame 5:50 @975TheFanatic
When Jalen Suggs tossed his mouthpiece off the court after he was bumped by LaMelo Ball roughly halfway through the first quarter of Thursday’s game at Charlotte, the Magic guard was quickly assessed a technical fine from official Scott Foster. What Suggs didn’t know at the time was that his wallet would take a hit, too. Suggs was fined $25,000 for “throwing his mouthpiece in the direction of the spectator stands,” the NBA announced Saturday afternoon.
Beyond his accomplishments in Charlotte as a player, Dell Curry is a television analyst with the Hornets and Amazon Prime, and he has been an ambassador and special adviser for the franchise. “It means the world because the Hornets’ No. 30, pinstripes, Charlotte and Dell Curry are pretty synonymous in terms of what he did as the original Hornet,” Stephen Curry told Andscape. “Ten years playing there, what he’s done as a broadcaster, in the community and all that. Charlotte is our home. I was there in 2016 and they honored him. And then 10 years later, he was going into rafters. “It’s special for our whole family. We call him the originator. And me and Seth are able to do this because of him. He set the foundation. So, one, to have it happen and, two, to be able to be there and see it in person, I’m so excited.”