Coby White Eyes Breakthrough as Hornets Face Heat

Free Coby White.

While a February trade from Chicago to Charlotte allowed the North Carolina native to forge a fresh start with his non-toxic, home-state team, White still is aiming to escape the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.

Not to mention the Miami Heat, Chicago’s play-in foil for the past three seasons.

On Tuesday, White’s Hornets will host the Heat in the play-in opener, and White has a pulse on how to prevail.

“We’ve just got to use our pace,” he said. “It’ll be a tough game if we make it a half-court game. It plays into their favor because of all the weapons they have offensively, the length that they play with defensively, the physicality they play with. So, I think we’ve got to use our pace.”

Miami took the season series from Charlotte 3-1, with both meetings in South Beach coming before Nov. 7 amid the Hornets’ 4-14 start.

Charlotte entered a March 6 visit from the Heat at 32-31 and stuck around before losing 127-120. The Hornets put everything together 11 days later, coasting to a 136-106 victory as the Heat were without Bam Adebayo (right calf tightness) and fellow frontcourt starter Andrew Wiggins (toe).

Both teams navigated injuries down the stretch of the regular season but enter Tuesday in relatively good health. As with Charlotte against New York, Miami capitalized on facing a foe already in the East playoff field during Sunday’s regular-season finale. The Heat handled the Atlanta Hawks by 26 as 13 players saw the court.

“They’re a team that’s going to be obviously well-prepared,” White said. “They got a hell of a coach in Erik Spoelstra. So for us, we got to be honed into the details.”

Some cynics might say that Spoelstra’s star is tumbling as the Heat have been relegated to the play-in the past three seasons. Whatever the case, he boasts two NBA championships and four other Finals appearances since taking the reins in 2008-09.

Of course, that includes the 2022-23 Heat, who regrouped from a loss in the 7-8 game to defeat White and the Bulls and earn an official spot in the playoff draw. Eighth-seeded Miami upset Milwaukee, New York and Boston before bowing out to Denver in a five-game Finals.

For better or worse, Spoelstra knows the urgency of the play-in nearly as much as he does the Finals. In his experience, tackling the former doesn’t have to be formidable.

“You have to absolutely embrace it,” Spoelstra said. “It makes you feel alive, that’s for sure, if you’re a competitor.

“You don’t want the season to go the way it can to put you in the play-in, but once you’re in it, it’s exhilarating. You have to embrace the competition, embrace how every single possession really does matter.”

The Hornets need a victory on Tuesday and against the loser of Wednesday’s Orlando-Philadelphia game to advance to the East draw for the first time since 2016.

The Heat know the drill -- both in the play-in and against the division rival Hornets. Charlotte features LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel and White among a horde of regulars who are comfortable with moving the ball and creating opportunities from long range.

“They play a lot faster at home, so obviously you’ve got to be aware of the shooters,” Adebayo said. “They run their offense with such a pace and sometimes it seems chaotic. You’ve got to be able to maintain through when they make runs or if it’s one of those big momentum swings, you’ve got to understand how we can settle and get back in the play.”

As Spoelstra can attest, anything can happen from there.