Sergio Guerra, Sports Editor/Photographer 

The Charlotte Hornets have had an incredible turnaround this season, propelling them to the ninth seed of the Eastern Conference, with a record of 44–38. The 25-win improvement from last season means that the Hornets had the opportunity to earn a spot in the NBA Playoffs through the SoFi Play-In Tournament. Due to their position in the standings, the Hornets were seeded against the Miami Heat (10^th seed) in the first of the two-game tournament. An electric overtime thriller saw Charlotte defeat the Heat 127–126 thanks to a layup from LaMelo Ball and a last gasp by Miles Bridges to hold onto the one-point lead. However, the dreams of Charlotte—who last made the NBA Playoffs in 2016—ended in a 31-point blowout to the Orlando Magic, who earned the eighth seed over the Hornets. The wait for playoff basketball in Charlotte will have to wait at least one more year. 

Promising Post-Season Start 

A loss to the New York Knicks on November 26, 2025, left Charlotte 4–14 in the regular season and primed to enter the NBA Draft Lottery for the 10^th year running. However, 2026 ushered in a new Hornets team that the NBA was not accustomed to. Buzz City built a 33–15 record in 2026 that included a nine-game win streak – tied for the longest in franchise history. And it wasn’t just winning; Charlotte was running teams off the court with an average point differential of 19.24 in wins. The historic start to the new year launched the Hornets up the Eastern Conference as they grabbed a ninth-place finish. 

The SoFi Play-In Tournament takes place between the 7^th–10^th seeds in both the Eastern and Western Conferences, letting the four teams in each conference fight over the final two seeds. Charlotte’s ninth place finish meant the team needed to win back-to-back elimination games to earn the eighth seed and face Detroit Pistons in the first round. First up, the Hornets were tasked with taking down the Miami Heat on Tuesday, April 14. The Heat won the regular season series 2–1, but Charlotte won the most recent matchup 136–106 on March 17. 

Since the Hornets held the higher seed, the first Play-In match in the East took place in the Spectrum Center, and the fans in attendance were treated with a 127–126 overtime thriller. The match was even throughout, probably more than it should have been considering the Miami Heat were playing without star player Bam Adebayo (second highest single-game scoring performance in NBA history) after an early, controversial injury. In fact, Miami had the Hornets on the ropes towards the end of the match, up three points with 10 seconds remaining before Tar Heel Coby White made a fade-away three to take the game into overtime. 

The Charlotte Hornets were placed in a similar situation in overtime, with the Heat up one point with only eight seconds remaining. However, Charlotte’s star guard LaMelo Ball was able to make a driving layup to take the lead with only 4.7 seconds remaining. That was enough clock for Miami to make one last drive, but Davion Mitchell’s attempt at a winning layup was denied by Miles Bridges. 

LaMelo Ball paced the Hornets with a 30-point and 10-assist double-double while adding on five rebounds, a steal, and a block. Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller also turned up with 28 points and 23 points respectively. Rookie Kon Kneuppel had a game to forget with only six points on 2–12 shooting – and no made three-pointers. However, Coby White was able to pick up the slack and turned in 19 points off the bench and went 58 from beyond the arc. 

The result gave Charlotte plenty of momentum heading into a do or die away matchup against the Orlando Magic for the eighth seed on Friday, April 17.  

Disaster in Orlando 

There are not too many words to describe Charlotte’s match against the Orlando Magic other than a complete collapse. The damage was done in the first half when the Magic outscored Charlotte 68–37. The Hornets could not make a dent in the lead, finishing the game with the same differential and a final score of 121-90. It was the largest point differential in a loss that the Hornets have suffered all season long in a game that mattered more than all others. The loss eliminated Charlotte from playoff contention as the Orlando Magic advances to take on the Detroit Pistons in the first round (at the time of writing this Orlando has won game one of that round).  

However, the manner in which the Hornets were dispatched leaves a sour taste in Charlotte’s mouth, and it’s back to NBA Draft to try and find their missing piece. The season was not a complete failure, as a 25-win improvement is nothing to scoff at. The Hornets seem to be the closest they’ve been to making real noise in the postseason, and the future looks bright with potential Rookie of the Year winner Kon Kneuppel and other young stars such as LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.