Charlotte Hornets: 3 Keys that will help Charlotte make the playoffs

3 Keys that will help Charlotte make the playoffs: The Hornets need to beat the teams they are supposed to beat

It is impossible to make the playoffs if you do not beat the teams you are better than.

This always seems to have been an issue for the Hornets in the past, but last season the team did pretty well.

In games against teams who finished with a worse record, the Hornets went 16-11. However, in the East, the team went 7-8.

If the Hornets want to make the playoffs, it needs to do better than below .500 against teams it is supposed to be better than. The team cannot afford to get caught off guard by a team like Orlando or Detroit this season, those games just matter too much.

All the teams below Charlotte got better this offseason, so the Hornets should not expect those games to be a cakewalk. The days of the eastern conference being full of bottom-of-the-barrel teams is over.

Chicago, Indiana and Washington are all teams who have about the same level of talent as the Hornets. The Bulls were a matchup nightmare for Charlotte last year, the Pacers sent them home and Washington snatched the 8 seed from them in the last game of the season.

These will all be teams to watch out for as the Hornets make its way through the season. If Charlotte plays like it’s expected to, it can be better than all these teams, but these teams can and have ruined your chances at the playoffs.

Keeping up with the competition in the east will be a tough task, but is one the team has to do to even sniff the postseason.