Coby White went nuclear for the Charlotte Hornets in last night’s Play-In Game

The Charlotte Hornets swinging a trade-deadline deal with the Chicago Bulls to bring Coby White back to his home state was immediately both an obviously great basketball move and a feel-good story, doubly so for those of us who are UNC fans. White, who of course spent one memorable year at UNC in 2019, added the kind of backup ballhandler that the Hornets had desperately needed throughout the first half of the season while seamlessly fitting with the team’s bombs-away approach from three-point range. He took a few games to get going after recovering from a minor injury, but by the end of the season, he was clearly an upgrade to the roster, averaging 18 points on 48/38/90 splits, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 21 minutes per game over the Hornets’ last 10 games. As both a microwave scorer and secondary point guard, he looked like exactly what they needed as they won 7 of their last 10 and made the postseason for the first time in four years. And who better to have on your team for the Play-In Tournament than the guy who, two years ago, put up 42 in a Play-In game?

I’m still not sure anybody saw coming what he would do next. The Hornets and Miami Heat were in a back-and-forth affair all Tuesday night, and White had been stifled for the first half and most of the third quarter. With 2 minutes left in the quarter, the Heat were up 1 after the Hornets had chipped away at a five-point lead. White took the ball up the key, went around a Ryan Kalkbrenner screen, and banked in a left-wing pull-up three. It wasn’t pretty, but it seemed to give him the mojo he needed. Two possessions later, the Heat’s Pelle Larson tripped over himself in the backcourt and lost the ball into White’s hands. He might have had a pass inside, but he decided to pull up from the top of the key instead: splash. The next possession, he beat Simone Fontecchio off the dribble and finished at the rim, and then finished his flurry with a buzzer-beating catch-and-shoot three that ended the quarter. In two minutes, he’d gone on an 11-4 run against Miami that put his team up 6. I wish I had a video of all four plays, but here’s the last…

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Publish date : 2026-04-15 15:00:00

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