If you’re a Charlotte Hornets fan, you’re usually just looking at mock drafts around this time of the year and patiently waiting for another miserable season to be finished. Well, those days appear to be over. The Hornets are not just hanging around this season, they are scorching hot, as they are on another winning streak and showing the Eastern Conference that the 9th or 10th spot in the play-in is not where they want to hang their hat.
With nine games left in the 2025-26 regular season, the Hornets (39-34) are sitting right on the edge of the play-in, just a couple of games behind the 5th and 6th seeded Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors. The dream? Avoiding that stressful 7-10 range entirely and locking down a top-6 seed for a guaranteed first-round series.
It’s a massive ask, but with Brandon Miller playing like a superstar, LaMelo Ball back to dishing highlights, Kon Knueppel shooting lights out, and the league’s top offensive rating, it’s not impossible. Here are three scenarios for how the Hornets can avoid the play-in and shock the East.
How the Hornets Steal a Top-6 Seed
1. The 8-1 Finish
This is the no mercy approach. To grab a top-6 spot, the Hornets likely need to finish with roughly 46-47 wins. That means going 8-1 or 7-2 in their final nine games. Charlotte will obviously need to continue playing like one of the best teams in the NBA. Over their last 20 games, they have been absolutely dominant, holding teams under 100 points on a consistent basis while lighting it up from three.
The Hornets need to win their next game against the Philadelphia 76ers, a team they are currently chasing for playoff positioning, and keep stealing games against top-tier competition. They close with a rough stretch against the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and New York Knicks, but if they are clicking, they can win any of those games. Those three games also may not be as difficult as they appear, but we’ll dig deeper into that later on. If they go 8-1, they won’t just avoid the play-in, they might jump all the way to the 5th seed.
2. Tiebreaker Frenzy
The bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture is currently absolute mayhem. You’ve got the Hawks, Raptors, Sixers, Orlando Magic, Hornets, and Miami Heat all within a few games of each other. If the Atlanta Hawks, Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Orlando Magic finish poorly, the door opens for even more chaos than we already have.
If it comes down to a multi-team tie, Charlotte actually holds up well. In the extremely unlikely scenario of a six-way tie, Charlotte’s late-season surge and divisional record could actually lift them to a 5th-seed tiebreaker win over teams like Miami and Orlando.
3. The Resting Giants Scenario
Let’s be honest, sometimes you need a little luck in the NBA. The Hornets last three games are against playoff-locked teams like the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and New York Knicks. This leaves open the possibility of Charlotte playing against three teams that could decide to rest their starters.
There is actually a strong possibility that the Celtics will sit Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both, as Boston needs both of their stars to be well-rested for the playoffs. They do play the Celtics this Sunday as well, but that is the first leg of a back-to-back for Boston, so there is a real possibility that they will choose to sit Tatum or Brown (both if they’re extremely lucky) for that game as well.
Can They Do It?
The Hornets have been playing catch-up all season due to a miserable start to the season. The Hawks are also playing like a top-four team right now, so realistically I don’t believe the 5th seed is doable. However, this team has changed its identity, becoming the league’s best in 3-point shooting and defensive efficiency since the calendar turned to 2026. If they can ride their current momentum through the end of the season, the 6th seed isn’t just a dream, it’s a very real possibility. It all starts by taking care of business at home against Philadelphia on Saturday night.
Main Image: Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images
