A Closer Look at the Charlotte Hornets' Recent Struggles

The Charlotte Hornets have spiraled out of control since their great start to the season. They are now four games under .500 and falling out of the playoff race.

The Charlotte Hornets enjoyed some amazing times to start this 2015-2016 NBA season when they opened up the year 14-8. They were playing some of the best basketball that they have played in years. Those times didn’t last very long.

Injuries, poor defense, and bad shooting nights seemed to continuously doom the Charlotte Hornets over the second half of December and now into the first half of January. The team was 14-8 on December 11th after a big win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

This propelled them into the second seed in the Eastern Conference. And of course it was early in the season and not many thought they would hold that position, it was uplifting to the Hornets and to the fans.

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After December 11th, the Charlotte Hornets have been on a downward spiral out of control that has seen them drop out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. They are now four games under .500 with a record of 18-22.

The Hornets are only 4-14 since December 11th and they have lost nine of their last 10 games. They had a seven game losing streak that lasted from December 30th to January 10th. They have only won a single game in the 2016 calendar year and are 1-8 in January.

Wow. What a fall from grace for Charlotte. A seemingly great season that would see the Hornets make the playoffs for only the third time in the past 12 seasons has since left people grasping for hope at a possible seventh or eighth seed this year.

Many want to blame injuries for the team’s struggles over the past month and they have hurt Charlotte a lot. Just take a look at the injuries that they have been dealing with over the past month.

First of all, they lost their star perimeter defender, Michael Kidd-Gilchirst, before the season even started. They were playing well enough without him but eventually the loss of MKG would catch up with the team. He is scheduled to return sometime around February from shoulder surgery.

Then since the start of December the Hornets have lost their best low post player in Al Jefferson with a multitude of injuries. He went down for six games with a left calf strain and was then forced to miss five games for a Drug Suspension. The after only a two game return, Big Al tore his meniscus and needed surgery that would require him to miss six weeks. He might be back in February.

Not to mention little injuries to just about every important player for the Charlotte Hornets over the past month. Guys like Jeremy Lamb, Nicolas Batum, Spencer Hawes, and Jeremy Lin have all missed games since December 11th due to injures.

Jeremy Lamb has missed the last two games for the team with a toe injury and was dealing with a wrist injury for about a week before that.

Nicolas Batum has missed one game on December 17th due to an illness and then four more games from January 2nd to January 9th because of a toe injury. Now he is dealing with a left elbow strain but he is playing through it.

Spencer Hawes has missed five games from December 26th to January 2nd because of a back injury.

A Closer Look at the Charlotte Hornets’ Recent Struggles

By Jerry Stephens | Jan 17, 2016

The Charlotte Hornets have spiraled out of control since their great start to the season. They are now four games under .500 and falling out of the playoff race.

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