The Charlotte Hornets have been named among teams that should be in panic mode.
The Charlotte Hornets have suddenly dropped two games in a row at the worst possible time, most recently falling to the Boston Celtics on Sunday evening.
The Hornets are now 39-36 on the season, and while they have already clinched play-in position, it's looking more and more like they will have to settle for a play-in game rather than an actual playoff berth.
The Atlanta Hawks are currently the No. 6 seed at 42-33, and while Charlotte does own the tiebreaker via winning the season series against the Hawks, it's going to be difficult for the Hornets to make up that ground with just seven games remaining.
Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz understands this and named Charlotte among play-in contenders with a "high" panic meter as the regular season draws to a close.
"This may be the most painful for the Hornets, who have to wonder just what they have to do to climb any higher in the East," Swartz wrote. "Charlotte has the second-highest net rating in the entire NBA since the All-Star break (plus-12.7) yet is still sitting at 10th overall in the conference. Unfortunately, the Hornets have the seventh-hardest remaining strength of schedule and face the top-three seeds in the East four times in their last eight games."
Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball. Credit: Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images.Charlotte has gone 23-8 over its last 31 games and owns the highest margin of victory in wins in NBA history, but it unfortunately got off to a 16-28 start this year.
That early hole has definitely come back to bite the Hornets, who will only face two teams with losing records the rest of the way: the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers.
Otherwise, Charlotte will have to battle the Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, Celtics, Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks. Three of those five matchups will be on the road, although the Hornets have actually been better away from home (20-17) than in their own building (19-19) this season.
Charlotte has definitely been one of the most exciting teams to watch since the calendar flipped to 2026 and has been arguably the NBA's best story, but you have to wonder if the clock is about to strike 12 on the Hornets' magical run.
If the season ended today, Charlotte would face the Philadelphia 76ers in its play-in game.
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