{"id":708298,"date":"2026-04-11T16:24:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T16:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/708298\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T16:24:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T16:24:29","slug":"hornets-remain-in-thick-of-playoff-race-entering-final-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/708298\/","title":{"rendered":"Hornets remain in thick of playoff race entering final games"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nCharlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) works around Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo\/Matt Krohn)<\/p>\n

CHARLOTTE \u2014 In a remarkable turnaround, the Charlotte Hornets\u2019 late-season surge has flipped what once appeared to be a lost year into one of the NBA\u2019s most improbable playoff pushes.<\/p>\n

As winners of four straight and eight of their last 10, the Hornets (43-36) have climbed back into contention in a tightly packed Eastern Conference race entering the final week of the regular season.<\/p>\n

Charlotte was 11 games below .500 entering 2026, but has now gone 32-14 since the start of the calendar year, fueled by improved health, perimeter shooting and steady growth under second-year coach Charles Lee.<\/p>\n

The Hornets, winners of eight of their last 10, extended their winning streak to four games on Sunday with a 122-108 road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves behind 35 points from LaMelo Ball. Charlotte trailed by five at halftime before taking control with a dominant third quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stepped up our defense. I thought the focus, attention to detail and coverage execution was really good,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI think that the team is making a ton of growth. One of the areas tonight playing this team (Timberwolves), you have to be able to play through physicality, and I thought we did it on both ends of the floor. We handled it like a really mature group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ball added to his standout season, finishing 7 for 14 from 3-point range for his league-leading eighth game with at least seven made 3s. It also marked his 20th game this season with at least five 3-pointers. Miles Bridges contributed 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Coby White added 17 points as Charlotte shot 48.9% from the field.<\/p>\n

The Hornets have leaned heavily on their perimeter attack, leading the NBA in 3-pointers made this season \u2014 a key factor in their emergence as a nightly threat regardless of opponent.<\/p>\n

Last week, that offensive firepower was commemorated in a 127-107 win over the Phoenix Suns when star rookie Kon Knueppel scored 20 points and set the franchise\u2019s single-season 3-point record, surpassing Kemba Walker.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially with the team success, it\u2019s been really fun to enjoy some of that individual success as well,\u201d Knueppel said. \u201cTurning this thing around and having the season we\u2019re having \u2014 really feeling the love from the fans \u2014 has been great. It has encouraged us and helped us to play better basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another key contributor has been seventh-year guard Coby White, acquired in a Feb. 4 trade with the Chicago Bulls. The former UNC standout is averaging more than 15 points in just under 20 minutes per game with Charlotte.<\/p>\n

For the Hornets, this level of on-court talent, team chemistry. national attention and renewed fan optimism has been absent in the Queen City for years. Charlotte has not reached the playoffs in 10 years and has missed the play-in tournament each of the past four seasons.<\/p>\n

Now, the team finds itself with a legitimate chance not only to return to the postseason, but potentially avoid the play-in altogether.<\/p>\n

With three games remaining, Charlotte sits eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, trailing No. 6 Toronto by 1.5 games and No. 7 Philadelphia by one game. The Hornets are also narrowly ahead of No. 9 Orlando and No. 10 Miami, creating a volatile race for both automatic playoff berths and play-in positioning.<\/p>\n

Charlotte\u2019s remaining schedule includes a road matchup at Boston, followed by a home game against Detroit and a regular-season finale Sunday at New York. With so little separation in the standings, each result \u2014 both for the Hornets and their competitors \u2014 could significantly reshape the playoff picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came into their place and beat them, then they came to our place and beat us,\u201d Bridges said of Boston after Sunday\u2019s win in Minnesota. \u201cNow we want to return the favor and start getting ready for the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NBA\u2019s playoff format creates a clear divide in the standings, with the top six teams in each conference earning automatic postseason berths while teams seeded seventh through 10th are sent to the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n

Charlotte\u2019s most realistic landing spots appear to range from sixth to eighth; moving up to sixth would allow the Hornets to bypass the play-in tournament, though it would likely require a strong finish and help from teams ahead of them.<\/p>\n

Regardless of where they land, the Hornets\u2019 late-season surge has already reshaped expectations. With a group of Eastern Conference squads separated by just a few games, the final days of the regular season have effectively become a multi-team playoff series of its own.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) works around Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) during the second half…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3777],"tags":[7,684,473,3878,685,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-708298","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\/116387006573354281","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708298","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=708298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}