Heat top Hornets despite blowing 20-point lead

Tyler Herro hit a 3-point shot with 28.4 seconds to play to help rescue the Miami Heat, who squandered a 20-point lead but regrouped for a 98-94 victory against the host Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.

Herro poured in 27 points and Duncan Robinson had 22 points for the Heat, who have won three of their past four games. Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 11 points.

LaMelo Ball had 32 points, Brandon Miller added 21 points and Tidjane Salaun chipped in 17 points to pace the Hornets.

After trailing 90-82 with 3:25 left in the game, the Hornets stormed into the lead on Salaun's 3-pointer with 42.3 seconds left. After Herro's basket, he made a steal. But Herro went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line with six seconds left, giving the Hornets an opening.

But with a chance to tie, Charlotte's Cody Martin missed two foul shots with 4.8 seconds left before two Kel'el Ware foul shots clinched it.

The Hornets trimmed a 20-point deficit to 82-75 with 6:14 to play after 3-pointers from Nick Smith Jr. and Ball. Less than two minutes later, Ball hit another 3 to make it 84-80.

Ball, who also had 10 rebounds, hit seven of his 20 attempts from 3-point range. Moussa Diabate chipped in 11 rebounds but did not score for Charlotte, which was just 3-for-8 on free throws.

Robinson went 6-of-9 from beyond the arc and Herro shot 4 of 12 from deep as the Heat shot 37.8 percent on 3-pointers.

Miami led 50-39 at halftime after holding Charlotte to 13 points in the second quarter.

The Hornets, who've lost five of their past six games, didn't reach the 50-point mark until the five-minute mark of the third quarter. By then, they had faced a 20-point deficit.

Miami was up 75-58 through three quarters.

Heat guard Terry Rozier, a former key member of Charlotte's backcourt, scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter.

--Field Level Media