{"id":692483,"date":"2026-04-01T19:43:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/692483\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T19:43:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:43:32","slug":"predicting-final-games-for-charlotte-hornets-eastern-conference-play-in-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/692483\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicting Final Games for Charlotte Hornets, Eastern Conference Play-In Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Eastern Conference is pretty tight, at least from five through 10. The fifth-seeded Toronto Raptors are just 3.5 games ahead of the 10th-seeded Charlotte Hornets.<\/a> There are about seven or eight games remaining for each team in the mix. <\/p>\n

How’s it all going to play out? Looking ahead at the remaining games and the standings, we can get a clearer picture for how the standings might map out. Unfortunately, Charlotte faces an uphill battle to catch everyone. <\/p>\n

\"Toronto<\/p>\n

Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) looks to pass as he is defended by Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges | Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Atlanta Hawks<\/a> own the fifth seed at 43-33. Here’s how their schedule will likely go:<\/p>\n

@ Magic: Win@ Nets: Winvs. Knicks: Loss@ Cavaliers: Lossvs. Cavaliers: Win@ Heat: Win<\/p>\n

That puts them at 46-36. The Toronto Raptors <\/a>currently hold the sixth seed. They are 42-33. Here’s how their remaining games will probably go:<\/p>\n

vs. Kings: Win@ Grizzlies: Win@ Celtics: Lossvs. Heat: Winvs. Heat: Loss@ Knicks: Lossvs. Nets: Win<\/p>\n

That puts them at 47-35. The Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> are seventh at 41-34. Here are their remaining contests:<\/p>\n

@ Wizards: Winvs. Timberwolves: Lossvs. Pistons: Win@ Spurs: Loss@ Rockets: Loss@ Pacers: Winvs. Bucks: Win\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) tries to drive past Philadelphia 76ers guard V.J. Edgecombe | Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

That puts them at 45-38. The Orlando Magic<\/a> are the eighth seed right now at 40-35. Here’s their final slate of games:<\/p>\n

vs. Hawks: Loss@ Mavericks: Win@ Pelicans: Winvs. Pistons: Lossvs. Timberwolves: Loss@ Bulls: Win@ Celtics: Win<\/p>\n

That leaves them 44-38. The Miami Heat<\/a> are in ninth. They’re 40-36. Here’s how their last games should go:<\/p>\n

vs. Celtics: Lossvs. Wizards: Win@ Raptors: Loss@ Raptors: Win@ Wizards: Winvs. Hawks: Loss<\/p>\n

That leaves the Heat at 43-39. Finally, your Charlotte Hornets are in 10th at 40-36. They have a tough slate ahead:<\/p>\n

vs. Suns: Winvs. Pacers: Win@ Timberwolves: Loss@ Celtics: Lossvs. Pistons: Win@ Knicks: Win<\/p>\n

That puts them at 44-38. If that’s how it goes, this would be the Eastern Conference standings from five to 10:<\/p>\n

Hawks (47-35)Raptors (46-36)76ers (45-38)Hornets (44-38)Magic (44-38)Heat (43-39)<\/p>\n

The Hornets lost two of three to the 76ers, with the latest coming a few days ago in brutal fashion. It would’ve been a big win for the standings, and it would, in this scenario, have put them in the seventh spot instead of the eighth. <\/p>\n

If this pans out, the Hornets would play the 76ers. If they win, they’d go on to visit the East’s two-seed (likely Boston). If they lose, they’d host the winner of Heat-Magic for a chance to visit the top seed (likely Detroit). <\/p>\n

Anything can happen, but it does look like it’s going to be a Play-In tournament appearance for Charlotte. Fortunately, they stand a good chance of at least having two chances to win a game and advance to the playoffs. <\/p>\n

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for the latest news and updates on the Charlotte Hornets<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Eastern Conference is pretty tight, at least from five through 10. The fifth-seeded Toronto Raptors are just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":692484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3777],"tags":[7,684,473,3878,685,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-692483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-charlotte-hornets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-charlotte","10":"tag-charlotte-hornets","11":"tag-charlottehornets","12":"tag-hornets","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116331167179885195","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=692483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/692483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/692484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=692483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=692483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=692483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}