Charlotte Hornets
Record: 29-26, 7th Seed
Remaining Schedule: 27 games remaining; 10 vs teams over .500
Believe it or not, the Charlotte Hornets actually have one of the easiest schedules off all the teams remaining in the Eastern Conference. Will that actually materialize into them making a move up the standings remains to be seen. Though, early indications are good.
Charlotte has won seven of their last eight games, including key wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers. Perhaps a good indicator of what the future holds for the Hornets is their next three games – against the Cavs, Pacers and Hawks.
If they can win at least two of those games, I believe it’s time to start taking the Hornets a bit more seriously. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to see them creep into for a top 4 seed. They’re only 2.5 games back.
On a lesser curve, assuming that the Hornets win five of those games against teams over .500 and 10 of the 16 remaining games, Charlotte would finish the regular season with 44 wins.
(Prediction): 44-36
Next: Chicago Bulls