The Charlotte Hornets’ 2023-24 NBA regular season schedule has been out for just over three weeks now, which means basketball junkies like myself have been deep diving into every homestand, road trip, and nationally televised game (sorry, Hornets fans, those words won’t be seen too often this season).
For a team that’s finished below .500 in 6 of the last 7 years, a post-All-Star break surge or a winless West Coast road trip in December can be the difference between a playoff push and talking yourself into Noah Vonleh being a franchise cornerstone.
History tells us that playoff positioning in the NBA can change sporadically over a short period of time. Flashback to the 2020-21 Hornets campaign – Charlotte had a firm grip on the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race with barely a month left in the COVID-shortened season before dropping 15 of their final 21 games.
This collapse included three straight home losses to teams that finished no better than 5th in their respective conference and a five-game skid to end the regular season before limping into the inaugural NBA Play-In tournament.
This trip down memory lane serves as a harsh reminder that every game matters. Sure, it’s a cliché phrase uttered by every youth sports coach in America, but it couldn’t have been truer for a Hornets team that finished one win short of hosting a Play-In game in back-to-back years.
The 2023-24 Hornets will be looking to avoid that same fate while airing out the stench of disappointment radiating throughout the fanbase. Variables such as injuries and potential trades will undoubtedly shake things up during the year, but a few weeks in the schedule already stand out as benchmarks for the season.
Adversity is unavoidable throughout a rigorous 82-game NBA schedule, but there are a few key weeks where the Hornets must thrive if they want to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Here are three crucial stretches in the Charlotte Hornets’ schedule that have the potential to make or break their season.
#1 The Charlotte Hornets need to set the tone early (10/25-10/30)
The Hornets open the regular season with a three-game Eastern Conference homestand. The Atlanta Hawks (10/25), Detroit Pistons (10/27), and Brooklyn Nets (10/30) will all make the trip to the Spectrum Center with hopes of starting their respective campaigns off on the right foot.
All three of these teams have something in common – they’re projected to be average. Middle of the pack. Fighting for a spot in the NBA Play-In tournament. Games like these, especially on their home floor, are the games the Hornets need to win to exceed their own expectations and flirt with a playoff berth.
Speaking of home-court advantage, it was almost non-existent for Charlotte last year. They posted a 13-28 record at the Spectrum Center, good for second-worst in the league. Opposing teams didn’t seem too worried when they saw a road game in the Queen City on their schedule.
The Hornets begin this season with a clean slate and a chance to establish themselves as a challenging game on the schedule for any team. The franchise has only seen one 3-0 start (2021-22) in its relatively short history, but the path has been laid for this year’s squad to capitalize on this early homestand and set the tone for the rest of the season.
2. The Charlotte Hornets must avoid West Coast woes (12/26-1/2)
The Charlotte Hornets will once again be forced to embark on the dreaded West Coast road trip this season. Being on the opposite side of the country for an extended period of time renders perfect conditions for a cascade of losses, especially when every team on the schedule is a shoo-in for the playoffs.
Likely underdogs in all five games, the Hornets will visit the Clippers (12/26), Lakers (12/28), Suns (12/29), Nuggets (1/1), and Kings (1/2) over the span of one week. This portion of the schedule hasn’t been kind to Charlotte in recent years. They finished 2-4 on their West Coast trip last season and 0-4 the year prior. The good news is the Hornets will have two full days of rest, including Christmas, to recharge before this grueling stretch of games.
Discipline will be critical for Charlotte to avoid plummeting down the standings. One overtime loss or poor shooting night can’t carry over into the next game. Expectations will be low against these juggernauts, but coming out of this trip with two or three wins would be a success.
The cream usually rises to the top in late December and early January. By this point, the playoff picture is shifting into focus, and teams at the bottom start looking ahead to the upcoming draft. The Hornets must steal a couple of wins during this extended road trip to avoid the West Coast woes and remain in the playoff hunt.
3. The Charlotte Hornets must prove they belong (3/3-3/11)
One indicator of a successful NBA team is their performance against lesser competition. Truly great teams put away inferior opponents in a convincing fashion – they leave no doubt. Fraudulent teams hiding near the top of the standings find themselves consistently dueling it out in tight games against the bottom of the league.
When March rolls around, there will inevitably be a few teams that have given up on the current season in favor of improving potential draft positions. There’s a solid chance that some combination of the Raptors (3/3), Magic (3/5), Wizards (3/8), Nets (3/9), or Pistons (3/11) will find themselves in that predicament.
In order to be taken seriously, the Hornets must improve against teams outside of playoff contention. Charlotte finished 15-31 against teams below .500 last year, largely due to an inability to stay healthy.
Improved injury luck and continuity are vital pieces to this puzzle. The Hornets were the 6th-most injured team last year when sorted by total games missed due to injury, meaning they’re due for some positive regression.
This stretch of games is a perfect time to make up some ground in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Ideally, the Hornets will have played their way into some respect by this point in the schedule. If all goes according to plan, the Hornets have a chance to be favored in 3-4 of these games.
Having success against this slate of lesser competition is a step in the right direction to breaking the cycle of eternal mediocrity and proving that the Charlotte Hornets belong in the top half of the Eastern Conference.