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\n![](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Miles_Bridges.png\"\/)
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\nCharlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges drives to the basket as the Phoenix Suns’ Royce O’Neal contests in the Hornets’ 127-07 win April 2, 2026 at Spectrum Center. The Hornets improved to 41-36 with five games remaining in the regular season.
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The Charlotte Hornets look different in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
Of course, they are winning games and healthy most of the season. But what has been one of the main catalysts has been their defensive intensity. Thursday\u2019s 127-107 win over the Phoenix Suns, for example, doesn\u2019t truly tell the story. The Suns scored 41 points in the first quarter alone but Charlotte (41-36) held them to just 66 points over the remaining three.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat job by our team to have a much better second quarter response than the first quarter,\u201d Hornets coach Charles Lee said. \u201cToo many moments of not locking into tendencies, having an active [center] at the rim to help protect the paint, just a lot of our defensive principles and who we are and the habits we built weren\u2019t there in the first quarter, especially consistently enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee credited the team but highlighted two players he thought particularly excelled on the defensive side to help stymie the Suns\u2019 offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCredit the team, but to [point] out Sion [James] and Ryan Kalkbrenner,\u201d Lee said, \u201cI thought that their defensive physicality, their focus on Devin Booker\u2019s tendencies [were key]. Sion picks up a foul here or there, but he does a great job of moving on to the next play and responding to hold Booker to one free throw tonight is a great effort. It\u2019s mental focus. It\u2019s a great job by the whole team collectively to be locked in on his tendencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hornets have keyed in on defense, really all season, but in games against some of the NBA\u2019s more physical teams, they\u2019ve excelled. Charlotte has held opponents under 100 points in 17 games this season compared to last season where they did so just 10 times, and seven the year prior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The defense is trending in the right direction and has the Hornets sitting with their best record since 2021-22 with a chance to top that season with five games remaining. You\u2019d have to go back to 2015-16 \u2013 the last time Charlotte made the playoffs \u2013 to find a better record at 48-34.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great for our team to come out with a victory,\u201d Lee said, \u201cbut I think also to be able to combat that physicality, there\u2019s a ton of growth that we made in a lot of moments tonight to not lose our minds and lose our focus on what the ultimate goal is, which is building winning habits and the togetherness and focusing on us. And I thought our group did that at a really high level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charlotte is locked into an NBA play-in spot at worst and 1.5 games behind Toronto and Philadelphia in seventh and sixth respectively. They would likely need some help to move into sixth. Orlando and Miami are a half game and one game behind Charlotte in ninth and 10th.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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