LaMelo Ball was so excited after delivering a knockout blow to the Miami Heat in Tuesday night’s electric 127-126 play-in tournament win that he carried it over to his victory celebration, delivering two right-hand jabs to the oversized head of Hugo, the Charlotte Hornets’ mascot.
In a wild sequence, Ball avenged two critical mistakes just seconds earlier by scoring on a driving right-handed layup with 4.7 seconds left, and Charlotte prevailed after Miles Bridges blocked Davion Mitchell’s layup attempt on the other of the court as time expired. That set off a wild celebration on the court involving players, coaches and fans as the team earned its first home postseason win in a decade.
Ball celebrated at midcourt, flexing after the winning layup. Local television station WBTV caught video of the hyped point guard delivering two seemingly playful blows at Hugo before embracing teammate Coby White in a bear hug. Hugo simply walked away.
Ball was the center of attention all night, and it remained uncertain if he could face disciplinary action from the league ahead of Charlotte’s next play-in game on Friday night after it appeared he took a swipe at the leg of Bam Adebayo early in the second quarter, causing the Heat center to fall on his back.
Ball was not called for a foul and play continued. Adebayo did not return because of a lower back injury, playing just 11 minutes.
Afterward, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said Ball should have been ejected.
Ball apologized after the game and said he was disoriented on the play after getting hit in the head seconds before on a drive to the basket.
The ninth-seeded Hornets play on the road against the loser of Wednesday’s night game between Orlando and Philadelphia as they look to snap a 10-year playoff drought.
“We drew up a good play, I feel like. Just orchestrated it and it worked,” Ball said of the winning shot.
Source : https://apnews.com/article/lamelo-ball-punches-mascot-win-b6a6750f779e6ce3ec381cf9d747aa6f