The Charlotte Hornets' post-deadline era is off to a good start. They continued to show their mettle on defense, which had been one of their weaknesses earlier in the season, to defeat the Houston Rockets 109-99.
With the Chicago Bulls losing on the same night, the Hornets are now tied with them for the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Hornets now a defensive powerhouse?
Before the 2025-26 campaign started, there was growing uneasiness about Charlotte's ability to stop opponents from scoring due to the supposed lack of plus-defenders on the roster. For a while, the concern had appeared warranted, as the team ranked near the bottom of the league in average points allowed and defensive rating during the first couple of months of the regular season.
The turn of the year saw the Hornets undergo a scary transformation, though. While much of the discussion surrounding them has focused more on how potent their offense has become, their defense has also been a sight to behold. In January, they complemented their league-best offensive rating with a top-five defensive rating.
Charlotte has definitely put the league on notice, especially after holding an opponent to fewer than 100 points for the 11th time in its previous 18 contests. And like we saw on Thursday, some of its defensive feats have come against formidable foes. In addition to the Rockets, the Hornets also limited the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, and Philadelphia 76ers to double-digit scoring. All those teams are above .500.
A dream bigger than the play-in tournament?
Now that they are in 10th place in the East, a spot in the play-in tournament is the Hornets' to lose. It remains to be seen if they can maintain their winning streak that has now run for eight games. But even if it gets snapped sometime soon, they have still shown the capability to pull off varying kinds of wins.
Battling a team with a better record? The Hornets defeated each of the current five best teams in the West in the past month.
Down 20? They rallied from a 22-point deficit against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Need to eke out the victory in crunch time? Four of their past eight wins came in the clutch.
So, unless the injury bug strikes again or the squad surprisingly implodes, we will likely see Charlotte reach the postseason for the first time since 2022. Maybe it should set its sights on something grander: the playoffs.
With the way it has performed in recent weeks, breaking a nine-year playoff drought is surely plausible for the Hornets.
Some fans even believe they can secure a top-six seed and an outright playoff berth. However, that scenario will likely require a miraculous run, such as winning at least 70 percent of their remaining matches. Well, Charlotte has lost just once in their past 10 games, thanks in large part to its top-five offense and defense. So, anything is possible at this point.