CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball made a layup with 4.7 seconds left in overtime, Miles Bridges blocked Davion Mitchell's attempt at a winning layup at the buzzer, and the Charlotte Hornets beat Miami 127-126 in a wild start to the NBA's play-in games, eliminating the Heat from the playoffs on Tuesday night.
Ball finished with 30 points and 10 assists and Bridges had 28 points and nine rebounds as the Hornets won their first postseason home game in a decade. Coby White had 19 points, including a turnaround 3 with 10.8 second left in regulation to send the game to OT.
Mitchell scored 28 points and Andrew Wiggins added 27 for the Heat, who lost Bam Adebayo to a lower back injury when Ball tripped him in the second quarter.
The Hornets will travel to face the loser of Wednesday’s matchup between Philadelphia and Orlando on Friday night for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte is seeking its first playoff appearance in a decade.
Ball's driving layup put the Hornets up by five with 26 seconds left in OT. But he made two critical mistakes after that.
Tyler Herro, who scored 23 points for Miami, hit a twisting, corner 3, and Ball then turned the ball over in the backcourt and fouled Herro on a 3-point shot. Herro made all three free throws to give Miami a 126-125 lead with 8.7 seconds left.
After a timeout, Ball drove the right side of the lane and made a leaning, right-handed layup to give Charlotte the lead. Miami, without any timeouts, pushed the ball up the court and Bridges chased down Mitchell to block his layup attempt, setting off a frenzied celebration.
Ball flexed at midcourt as players mobbed each other.
Despite the loss of Adebayo, the Heat remained in control until late in the third quarter, when White banked in a 3-pointer and then added another 3 at the top of the key as part of a 10-0 Charlotte run.
White, acquired in a midseason trade with Chicago, drained another 3 in the closing seconds of the third quarter to give Charlotte a 89-83 lead.
The Heat then built a 102-95 lead in the fourth quarter behind two 3s from Wiggins.
The Hornets tied it when White caught an inbounds pass and made a unbalanced 3 from the corner. Herro had a chance to win it in regulation but hit the back iron on a 3-point try.
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Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) lies on the court during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges, back, and Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro (14) battle for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) drives to the basket against Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
PARIS (AP) — A Parisian art enthusiast could not believe his luck when he found out Tuesday he'd won a Pablo Picasso painting worth $1 million with a $117 raffle ticket.
“How do I check that it’s not a hoax?” said Ari Hodara, 58, after organizers called him following the draw at Christie’s auction house in the French capital.
Hodara described himself as an art amateur fond of Picasso and said he bought his ticket over the weekend after finding out about the charity raffle by chance during a meal in a restaurant.
“First, I will tell the news to my wife, who has yet to return from work,” said Hodara, a sales engineer. “And at first, I think I’ll take advantage of it and keep it.”
The third iteration of the “1 Picasso for 100 euros” lottery was for Picasso’s “Head of a Woman,” a portrait of Picasso’s longtime muse and partner Dora Maar. The gouache-on-paper was painted by the artist in 1941.
The online draw offered the chance to win a $1 million portrait by the Spanish artist in aid of Alzheimer’s research.
Organizers said all 120,000 tickets were sold worldwide, netting 12 million euros ($14 million). Of that, 1 million euros will be paid to the Opera Gallery, an international art dealership that owned the painting.
Gilles Dyan, the gallery founder, said he offered a preferential price for the painting, with the public price at 1.45 million euros.
The first raffle in 2013 saw a Pennsylvania man who worked at a fire-sprinkler business win “Man in the Opera Hat,” which the Spanish master painted in 1914 during his Cubist period.
The oil-on-canvas “Still Life” was raffled off in 2020 and won by Claudia Borgogno, an accountant in Italy whose son bought her the ticket as a Christmas present.
Painted in 1921, that painting was purchased for the raffle from billionaire art collector David Nahmad, who argued in an interview with The Associated Press that Picasso would have approved of his work being raffled. Picasso died in 1973.
The Alzheimer Research Foundation, the charity raffle’s organizer, is based in one of Paris’ leading public hospitals and says it has become France’s leading private financier of Alzheimer-related medical research since its founding in 2004.
Organizers said the two previous Picasso raffles raised a total of more than 10 million euros for cultural work in Lebanon and water and hygiene programs in Africa.
Peri Cochin, right, founder of "1 Picasso for 100 euros," speaks on the phone with the winner, Ari Hodara of Paris, next to the painting 'Head of a Woman' by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1941, after the raffle draw at Christie's in Paris, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in support of Alzheimer's research. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Peri Cochin, right, founder of "1 Picasso for 100 euros," speaks next to the painting 'Head of a Woman' by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1941, during the raffle draw at Christie's in Paris, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in support of Alzheimer's research. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Peri Cochin, right, founder of "1 Picasso for 100 euros," speaks next to the painting 'Head of a Woman' by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1941, during the raffle draw at Christie's in Paris, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in support of Alzheimer's research. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
The Head of a Woman by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1941, is presented in Paris, Friday, April 10, 2026, ahead of a lottery in which the painting is being raffled off to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
People look at the Head of a Woman by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1941, in Paris, Friday, April 10, 2026, ahead of a lottery in which the painting is being raffled off to raise money for Alzheimer’s research (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Peri Cochin, co-founder of the "1 Picasso for 100 euros" poses next to Head of a Woman by Pablo Picasso, painted in 1941, in Paris, Friday, April 10, 2026, ahead of a lottery in which the painting is being raffled off to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
