The Charlotte Hornets have a glaring weakness. Can they fix it?
The Charlotte Hornets are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. They are 8-2 over their last 10 games and rank fourth in the league in offensive rating.
There aren't many negatives with the Hornets right now, but NBA analyst Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report worries about Charlotte's lack of playoff experience moving forward.
"To say the Charlotte Hornets lack playoff experience is an understatement," Swartz wrote. "It's been 10 years since this franchise tasted the postseason and 28 years since the Hornets reached 50 wins. No member of the starting five was even alive then.
"A 33-33 record now has Charlotte as a near lock to make the play-in tournament in the East. This is where their inexperience in big games could show, however. LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabaté have a combined zero games of playoff experience in their careers. Coby White came off the bench for a series with the Chicago Bulls in 2022. The rest of the roster carries very little playoff success and only has one player (Pat Connaughton) older than 27. The Hornets haven't played in many meaningful games over the past 10 years. That will change over the next month."
The Hornets haven't made the playoffs since 2016. Barring a late-season collapse, it appears Charlotte will be in the NBA play-in tournament this season.
Seeds 7-10 participate in the play-in tournament. Charlotte is currently the 10th seed. The 10th seed needs to win two play-in games to make the playoffs.
The Hornets are currently led by LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges and Rookie of the Year favorite Kon Knueppel. It will be intriguing to see if Charlotte can make the playoffs this year for the first time in the Ball era, which began in 2020.
The Hornets have 15 games left in the regular season. Charles Lee's group has to finish strong.
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