Who would've thought we'd be here? As we wear away on the NBA season, the Hornets are in an ideal position to avoid the NBA Play In and be fully locked into the playoffs.
The Charlotte Hornets didn’t need to be in Orlando to feel the magic. They created it themselves.
In the franchise’s existence, the Hornets have never made it to a Conference Finals, let alone an NBA Finals, and it makes you wonder if and when the impossible can in fact occur.
Well one advanced stat seems to suggest that a deep playoff run may be in play for the Bees.
NBA personality and analyst Brett Usher posted on X that the Hornets’ starting five have the best net rating with a minimum of 750 possessions over the last 20 seasons.
This has been something we’ve discussed a lot about here at HornetsRoundtable.
The moment the Hornets got healthy and rolled out a starting five of LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, and Moussa Diabate, this team seemed unbeatable.
But it’s showing in the numbers now, as Charlotte owns a +30.4 net rating, which stands atop the NBA.
Over those 20 seasons that Usher had cited, three of the previous four teams had made the NBA Finals.
So it begs the question… Can this Hornets roster make a deep playoff run?
It’s not as outlandish as you may think.
Charlotte has the fourth-best record in the league since February 1, tied with the Atlanta Hawks and just two wins behind the Boston Celtics.
The Hornets already have one win against Boston this season, with two more to go (including tomorrow), and beat the Hawks three times out of four games. The one loss was only by a three-point margin.
Down the stretch, the Hornets have maintained a set of resume-building wins, including a 27-point victory against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma.
Of their 39 wins this season, 20 have come against teams who are vying for a playoff position.
With the perfect blend of physicality down low and elite perimeter shooting, the Hornets have turned into one of the more dangerous teams in the league. And even though they’re making a lot of noise league-wide, their presence still may be falling on deaf ears.
NBA legend and Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett said on his podcast KG Certified that no one wants to see the Hornets in the playoffs.
"Charlotte is naive enough to think that they can," Garnett said. "You don't want to see them right now. You don't want to play no team with no super confidence. And they got super confidence."
The Hornets tip off against the Philadelphia 76ers at 6:00 p.m. ET and then take on the Celtics tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. as well.