LaMelo Ball has 30 points and 13 assists as Hornets beat short-handed Heat 136-106

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball had 30 points and 13 assists, and the Charlotte Hornets pulled away in a huge fourth quarter to beat the short-handed Miami Heat 136-106 on Tuesday night.

Coby White scored 24 points off the bench and rookie Kon Knueppel added 22 as Charlotte (35-34) won for the ninth time in 12 games. Brandon Miller scored 16 for the Hornets, who are 10th in the Eastern Conference.

Tyler Herro had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Heat (38-31), who dropped their second straight following a season-best seven-game winning streak. They played without star forward Bam Adebayo, who sat out with right calf tightness after being listed as questionable before the game.

Adebayo hadn't missed a game since Dec. 27. He scored 83 points last Tuesday in a 150-129 win over Washington, second-most in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.

Andrew Wiggins missed his sixth consecutive game with a toe injury, and Miami forward Nikola Jovic (back) did not play for the 12th game in a row. He was listed as probable before the game and was expected to return.

Miami remained seventh in the East, a half-game behind Orlando.

Miles Bridges had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, back home from a 2-2 trip against Western Conference teams. After leading 96-88 through three quarters, they outscored Miami 40-18 in the fourth.

Moussa Diabate grabbed 13 boards to go with eight points and four assists.

Ball, who also had six rebounds, reached 6,000 career points on a basket in the third quarter. He also scored 30 points last Wednesday in a 117-109 victory at Sacramento.

Norman Powell scored 17 points for Miami, which had won five consecutive meetings with the Hornets.

Heat: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

Hornets: Host the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) shoots against Charlotte Hornets guard Sion James during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) looks to shoot against Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges, right, drives to the basket against Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) shoots against Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) shoots over Miami Heat forward Simone Fontecchio during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

CHICAGO (AP) — The race to replace U.S. Sen Dick Durbin is shaping up in Illinois after Don Tracy won the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s primary. The former chairman of the state Republican Party was among the best-known in the six-candidate race.

The retirement of the Senate’s longtime No. 2 Democrat triggered a competitive campaign on the Democratic side, drawing as candidates U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, among others.

Furious fundraising and sharp elbows marked the race, which tested the influence of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, whose name has been floated as a 2028 presidential contender. He backed Stratton.

In the Republican Senate primary, Tuesday’s winner was Don Tracy, former state Republican Party chairman.

From questions about the cryptocurrency and AI industries to immigration enforcement to fracturing U.S. support for Israel, the state's voters confronted such issues as super PACS poured in millions of dollars into hotly contested races.

A spate of House retirements led to open seats with crowded contests across the Chicago area where the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and PACs supporting the cryptocurrency and AI industries spent big on several contests. Most primary winners in the Democratic stronghold are expected to win in November, shaping a new generation of leadership in the state’s congressional delegation.

Ten Democrats and six Republicans ran for the seat after Durbin announced his retirement after five terms.

Tracy is an attorney who led the Illinois Republican Party from 2021 to 2024. The state last had a Republican in the Senate a decade ago, when Mark Kirk was defeated by current Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

The three leading Democrats in the primary were Chicago-area U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton.

Krishnamoorthi dominated fundraising and the airwaves, and was the first on television with ads in July. He started 2026 with over $15 million on hand after spending more than $6 million and raising more than $3.5 million in the final three months of last year, according to campaign finance records.

By comparison, Stratton started the year with $1 million after raising about the same amount and spending just under $1 million in the last three months of 2025. But last month Pritzker put $5 million in a super PAC largely aimed at helping get her elected.

She campaigned on Pritzker's endorsement and lit into Krishnamoorthi at debates, particularly on the five-term Democrat's voting record and donations from a contractor tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“That is not the example of somebody who’s going to stand up to Donald Trump and fight for all of our communities,” Stratton said during a debate January. “I want to abolish ICE.”

Krishnamoorthi, who has called to dismantle ICE, said he donated the money to immigrant rights groups. He argued that Stratton zeroed in on him because she “didn’t have any policy ideas. She had to attack.”

Rochelle Brockenborough, 64, said she voted for Stratton at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center in Chicago.

“I wanted to make sure there was no AIPAC money. That’s important to me,” she said, adding that U.S. tax dollars shouldn't be used to support Israel.

Meanwhile Kelly took issue with Pritzker’s involvement, arguing that a sitting governor should not interfere.

Shana Sumers, 36, said she voted for Kelly to support marginalized communities, such as transgender people. She also called the Iran war “a big distraction.”

“We really need to be able to afford housing, afford health care, afford to go to the grocery store,” Sumers said.

Candidates touted ties to iconic Chicagoans including President Barack Obama and the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died last month. However, an endorsement touted posthumously by Stratton caused a snag as Jackson's family withdrew it Monday, saying the draft was not meant for public release.

Election officials hoped to see busy polls after statewide turnout in the 2024 primary was 19%, the lowest in more than five decades.

Among issues reported Tuesday were complaints that poll workers in Madison County asked voters to show ID, drawing attention from the local elections office and the state attorney general. Officials in the southern Illinois county said the issue in one precinct was resolved. Showing an ID at a polling place is not required in Illinois.

Tracy bested five other candidates in the GOP’s Senate primary. Illinois last had a Republican in the Senate a decade ago, when Mark Kirk was defeated by current Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

Dozens of candidates ran for five open seats in the Chicago area, where funding from groups supporting Israel and the cryptocurrency industry played an outsize role.

In Kelly’s 2nd district, which spans parts of the South Side and suburbs and dips into the central Illinois farmlands, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller emerged as the winner of a crowded Democratic field that included former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., son of the late civil rights leader, and state Sen. Robert Peters. Miller will face off in November against Republican Michael Noack, who was unopposed.

Miller was backed by AIPAC, and that support prompted retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, of the 9th District, to withdraw her endorsement of Miller.

The open seat in Krishnamoorthi’s suburban 8th District attracted eight Democratic candidates and four Republicans. Former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean won the Democratic nomination.

Two other House members are retiring after long careers.

The 7th District of Rep. Danny Davis, who was first elected in 1996, covers parts of downtown, the West Side and suburbs. Thirteen Democrats were in the race including front-runners state Rep. La Shawn Ford and Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin.

Conyears-Ervin conceded to Ford late Tuesday, though the Associated Press has not declared a winner. Chad Koppie won for the GOP.

The primary field for Schakowsky's 9th District seat was the most crowded. Among the 15 Democratic candidates were Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, digital creator Kat Abughazaleh and state Sen. Laura Fine. Four Republicans were running.

Another open Chicago area seat was that of Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who announced that he would not seek reelection citing health and personal reasons. The Democratic primary was uncontested after Garcia quietly schemed to place his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, on the ballot without any Democratic competition.

Patty Garcia, who is not related to the congressman, will face Republican Lupe Castillo, who also ran unopposed, in November.

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who was unopposed in his primary, is the first governor to seek a third term since the 1980s.

One of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics, Pritzker used his victory speech to tout his efforts to oppose the aggressive federal immigration crackdown in Chicago last year. He criticized Republicans' agenda, called Trump's presidency an “unmitigated disaster” and vowing to help Democrats across Illinois win in November.

“This is the fight of our lives,” he told supporters at a downtown Chicago hotel. “Everything we care about is under siege from Washington.”

Pritzker also made digs at Republican candidate Darren Bailey, a former state senator whom he handily defeated in 2022.

Bailey, among four Republicans vying for the nomination, said he was now doing things differently. For one, he focused more on Chicago voters by choosing running mate Aaron Del Mar, who leads the Republican Party in Cook County.

Bailey criticized Pritzker’s leadership, including blaming him for rising costs, saying, “He’s just another billionaire who has never once felt the pain he’s inflicted.”

Also in the Republican primary were Ted Dabrowski, a real estate developer; Rick Heidner, a video gambling magnate; and DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick.

Associated Press journalists Mike Householder in Chicago and Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed.

Democratic candidate for Congress, Kat Abughazaleh smiles as she walks to vote on Election Day at Chicago Park District Loyola field house in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who is running in the Senate Democratic Primary Election, talks with election judges at Nerge Elementary School polling place in Schaumburg, Ill., Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Democratic candidate for Congress, Kat Abughazaleh, center, casts her vote in a primary election for the upcoming midterms, in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Patty García speaks during a news conference to announce her candidacy for the fourth district congressional race, Nov. 12, 2025, in Cicero, Ill. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)