The Hornets and Magic will meet to determine the last piece of the Eastern Conference postseason field Friday night.

There will be no suspension for LaMelo Ball, but the Hornets point guard was fined for two separate incidents from Tuesday’s dramatic Play-In win over the

Only in this game, the Hornets needed that guy. Two of their three main sources of points were underperforming: rookie Kon Knueppel seemingly had big-stage jitters, missing 10 of his 12 shots and all six of his 3-pointers. Brandon Miller played less than 10 minutes in the first half, collecting as many fouls as points.

Among those who have carped at Ball is Wright, who called the 2022 All-Star a clown. The sportscaster doubled down on his criticism with a social media post on X, explaining that he went "scorched earth" on Melo for intentionally injuring Bam and being a menace on the streets of Charlotte.