NBA Play-In: Bam Adebayo Warns the Heat – “Managing Runs Will Be the Key”
Miami faces Charlotte with its playoff hopes on the line, and Bam Adebayo knows there is no margin for error against LaMelo Ball and the Hornets
One of the most intriguing matchups of the NBA Play-In Tournament will pit two very different teams against each other: the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets. On one side is Bam Adebayo’s squad – capable of explosive highs, including the 83-point outburst they posted a month ago – but inconsistent throughout a turbulent season in the Eastern Conference.
On the other is the surprise of the year: a Charlotte team that completely reversed its trajectory from 2025 to 2026 and emerged as one of the league’s most dangerous rising powers.
Fresh off a strong double-double performance (25 points, 10 rebounds) in the blowout win over Atlanta (143-117), Adebayo understands the road to the playoffs will not be easy. Entering the postseason as the East’s No. 10 seed, the Heat have zero room for error on the road against the Hornets: win, or the season is over.
They play much faster at home, so obviously you have to pay attention to their shooters and the way they run offense with that pace… you have to be able to withstand their runs when they get going or when momentum shifts hard. You have to know how to stay calm and get yourself back on track
Bam Adebayo
Hornets Have Become One of the NBA’s Hottest Teams
Despite Miami winning the season series 3-1, Charlotte may be the toughest possible play-in opponent. After spending December and January near the bottom of the conference standings, LaMelo Ball – who was even coming off the bench at one point – and the Hornets flipped the switch.
Since January 1, Charlotte owns the sixth-best record in the NBA at 33-16, a contender-level pace matched only by teams such as the Thunder, Spurs, Knicks, Pistons, and Cavaliers.
Charlotte’s Historic Three-Point Shooting
The Hornets have emphatically silenced critics – Chandler Parsons among them – who predicted another disastrous season. Instead, under head coach Charles Lee, Charlotte has built one of the most entertaining and lethal offenses in the league, shattering records in the process, particularly from beyond the arc.
The duo of LaMelo Ball and Kon Knueppel finished the season with a barrage of threes (272 and 273, respectively), numbers not seen since the peak years of the Splash Brothers, Curry and Thompson.
But the team-wide number is even more remarkable: for the first time in franchise history, Charlotte led the NBA in made threes with 1,276, ahead of even the Golden State Warriors (1,221) and Boston Celtics (1,179).
Miami cannot afford lapses in focus. Ten years after their last postseason meeting – when Erik Spoelstra’s Heat beat Charlotte 4-2 – the outcome now looks far less predictable.
The Hornets are no longer a feel-good surprise: if they survive the Play-In, they may become the true wild card of the NBA postseason.