CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LaMelo Ball was so excited after delivering a knockout blow to the Miami Heat in Tuesday night’s electric 127-126 play-in tournament win that he carried it over to his victory celebration, delivering two right-hand jabs to the oversized head of Hugo, the Charlotte Hornets’ mascot.In a wild sequence, Ball avenged two critical mistakes just seconds earlier by scoring on a driving right-handed layup with 4.7 seconds left, and Charlotte prevailed after Miles Bridges blocked Davion Mitchell’s layup attempt on the other of the court as time expired. That set off a wild celebration on the court involving players, coaches and fans as the team earned its first home playoff win in a decade.Ball was seen celebrating midcourt and flexing after the shot, but it was local television station WBTV that caught video of an elated Ball delivering two punches at Hugo before embracing Coby White in a bear hug.Hugo simply walked away.“We drew up a good play, I feel like. Just orchestrated it and it worked,” Ball said.Ball was not asked about punching the mascot after the game; the video of it had not surfaced at that point amid all the confusion in a game in which Ball tripped Heat star Bam Adebayo, who injured his lower back and was knocked out of the game.“The crowd was amazing,” Ball said of the sold-out crowd. “Everyone who came out today was real loud, so it was a good crowd.”The Hornets were able to get to overtime after White hit an off-balanced 3-pointer from the corner with 10.8 seconds left to tie the game, and Miami’s Tyler Herro missed a jumper at the end of regulation.The Hornets surrendered a five-point lead in OT behind two Ball blu …
