The Charlotte Hornets may catch a big break in their Sunday night matchup against the Boston Celtics.
The Charlotte Hornets just suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, and at this point, they really can't afford back-to-back defeats.
The good news is that their matchup with the Boston Celtics on Sunday evening could end up looking a lot more intimidating on paper than it actually is.
Why? Because the Celtics might be incredibly shorthanded in Charlotte.
Jayson Tatum (Achilles management), Jaylen Brown (Achilles tendinitis), Derrick White (knee contusion) and Neemias Queta (thumb sprain) are also listed as questionable for the affair against the Hornets.
While that does not necessarily mean that all of those players will be sidelined, it's important to note that Boston is about to play a back-to-back, as the Celtics will also face the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
The Hornets clobbered the C's in Boston, 118-89, just before Tatum returned from his torn Achilles earlier this month. It was actually the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White. Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images.Charlotte has two more matchups with the Celtics. After hosting them on Sunday, the Hornets will return to Beantown on April 7 to face the C's in their third-to-last game of the regular season.
After their loss to the 76ers on Saturday, Charlotte fell to 39-35 on the year and is now the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. In order to avoid a play-in game, the Hornets will have to move up to No. 6, where the Hawks currently sit at 41-33.
Charlotte doesn't have any games remaining with Atlanta, but the Hornets did win three of four in the season series, so they do own the tiebreaker.
Of course, making up two games with just eight remaining will be difficult, especially considering that the Hawks have been playing some fine basketball lately.
It has been a wild ride for Charlotte, which fell to 16-28 back on Jan. 21 but has gone 23-7 since, establishing itself as one of the most dangerous teams in basketball throughout that stretch.
Unfortunately, the Hornets may have dug themselves too deep of a hole early on, so they might get stuck in a play-in game.
If the season ended today, Charlotte would face 7-seeded Philadelphia in its play-in matchup.
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