Don't look now, but the Charlotte Hornets have put themselves in a position to join the play-in tournament. And based on their remaining strength of schedule, as well as those of the teams they could be contending for a play-in spot with, there is good reason to feel good about their chances.
After Charlotte's come-from-behind win on Monday against the New Orleans Pelicans, it currently owns a 23-28 record. The two squads ahead of it are the Atlanta Hawks (24-27) and the Chicago Bulls (24-26).
Odds are in Hornets' favor
The good news for Buzz City is that the Bulls have the third-toughest remaining schedule strength, per Tankathon. They still have to face the Oklahoma City Thunder twice, the East-leading Detroit Pistons, and other top seeds, such as the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, and New York Knicks. It wouldn't be surprising to watch Chicago fall in the standings.
Meanwhile, the Hornets also have a challenging road ahead, as they are 13th in Tankathon's ranking. However, they have shown themselves to be capable of defeating seemingly better teams, as evidenced by their blowout wins against the Thunder and Nuggets. The Charles Lee-helmed crew has also recently been a menace in the clutch, with each of its previous three dubs being decided by single-digit margins.
As such, Charlotte could take the Bulls' current top-10 spot in the conference and book a trip to the play-in tournament. It could probably even overtake the Hawks, though the odds of that happening are slimmer because its division rival has one of the easiest schedules for the remainder of the season.
Hornets are better than their record
The thing is, even though Charlotte is just 11th in the East at the moment, a lot of people feel it should be higher. Perhaps it's the way the club has dominated some opponents in recent weeks. It's also worth noting that the Hornets have registered the sixth-best point differential per game (+1.8) in the conference.
So, as long as their core pieces remain healthy, it's hard to deny that they have the potential to make some noise in the play-in tournament. Even a pundit like Charles Barkley has gone from believing the franchise can reach the postseason to guaranteeing that it can make the playoffs.
Hopefully, the Hornets can continue to defeat the foes they are supposed to beat and pull off upsets against more favored opponents. If they can maintain their level of play in the coming weeks, they would be poised to take advantage of a late-season scheduling quirk that has them playing more games at home than on the road.