Currently the 9th seed in the stacked Eastern Conference, the Charlotte Hornets have regressed since their hot start to the year, but with a young team in need of playoff experience, they should be pushing for a postseason appearance.
If the season ended today, Charlotte would host Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the play-in tournament. Charlotte is 2-2 against Atlanta this season, so there’s a good chance they could come out with a win. If they succeeded against Atlanta, they would then have to beat either the Raptors or the Nets to advance to the postseason.
Having just pounded the Dallas Mavericks by 21, things are looking up for the Hornets, who have won their last four games. The return of Gordon Hayward is also on the horizon, which should elicit optimism from fans and soon provide stability for the young Hornets.
Several Hornets showed out in the big win against Dallas, including Miles Bridges, LaMelo Ball, P.J. Washington, and Terry Rozier. Bridges led the team in scoring with 23 points, going 3-5 from beyond the arc. As a team, Charlotte shot the ball quite well from downtown, posting a 47.6 three-point percentage.
Now this is bold, but the possibility exists of Charlotte overtaking Brooklyn for the 8th seed. With five of their next 11 games being against opponents under .500, Charlotte could conceivably go 5-6 or better. Six of Brooklyn’s next 11 games come against opponents sporting records of .500 or better. With potential wins over beatable opponents and an upset or two, Charlotte could contend for the eighth seed.
As the regular season winds down, all eyes are beginning to look to the playoffs, including those of this young Hornets team. More than one possibility exists for how this season could play out, and the coming weeks will likely reveal if this is a playoff caliber team or not.
If things don’t go Charlotte’s way over the next few games, they could fall to the 10th seed and would have to win two play in games to reach the postseason, but if they get hot, the 8th seed is a realistic possibility.