MIAMI — Tyler Herro scored 35 points off the bench and the Miami Heat moved closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 144-115 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night.
Miami won its fifth straight and posted the second-highest point total in franchise history, while Charlotte allowed 144 for the second consecutive game after a 144-112 loss Saturday at Philadelphia.
Jimmy Butler added 27 points, Bam Adebayo had 22 and Duncan Robinson broke out of a recent scoring slump with 21 points for the Heat, who need to win one of their two remaining games to secure the top spot in the East. Robinson shot 7 of 11 on 3-pointers after averaging 5.7 points in his previous six games, including two scoreless outings.
Ahead 104-97 after three periods, the Heat began the fourth on a 13-2 spurt. Robinson’s 3-pointer with 7:55 remaining capped the run for a 117-99 lead.
Miami finished 23 of 42 from 3-point range. Herro was 8 of 14 from behind the arc and tied Dwyane Wade’s single-game record for points by a Heat reserve.
The Hornets have clinched a berth in the play-in tournament. They began the night tied with Brooklyn for ninth place in the East.
Miles Bridges scored 29 points and LaMelo Ball finished with 18 points and 14 assists for Charlotte.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra (health and safety protocols) missed his second straight game. Miami assistant Chris Quinn is running the team during Spoelstra’s absence.
The Hornets hit their first four 3-pointers for a 14-4 lead 2:57 into the game. Consecutive 3s from Robinson and Herro keyed a 12-3 spurt in the final 2:07 of the second period that gave Miami a 70-60 lead at halftime.
Miami’s Kyle Lowry and Charlotte’s Gordon Hayward rested and didn’t play. Hayward had missed 22 games because of a left ankle sprain before his 17-minute outing against Philadelphia.
TIP-INS
Hornets: Charlotte is locked into a play-in tournament spot. It’ll be the Hornets’ first game past the end of the regular season since 2016, when they lost a seven-game first-round series to Miami. ... Bridges is averaging 26.6 points in his last six games.
Heat: The game technically was the 1,111th of Spoelstra’s coaching career, a figure that includes games he’s missed for family reasons and virus-related issues. ... Quinn is 2-1 while stepping in for Spoelstra this season. In addition to Sunday’s win at Toronto, Spoelstra missed Miami’s game against Brooklyn on March 26 after one of his sons underwent a medical procedure.
BROTHER VS. BROTHER
Caleb Martin outscored twin brother Cody 12-7. The Martins were teammates in Charlotte the previous two seasons before Caleb joined Miami as a free agent.
UP NEXT
Hornets: Host the Orlando Magic on Thursday.
Heat: Conclude their regular-season home schedule against Atlanta on Friday.
___
More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Locked On is the leading podcast network for local sports and is owned by WCNC Charlotte's parent company TEGNA.
Listen to Locked On here.
All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.