1 Stat Actually Suggests Charlotte Hornets Could Make an NBA Finals Run

The Charlotte Hornets have never even made an Eastern Conference Finals. Never once in their history have they made it past the second round. To think they are primed to go deeper than ever before in 2025-26 might be a little foolish.

Or, it might not. The Hornets are obviously pretty good this year. Their record doesn't reflect the level of basketball they're playing, because they've been one of the best teams in the sport for almost three full months.

The numbers behind it are mind-boggling, and they suggest that Charlotte might not only get its first playoff berth in a decade and its first series win since 2002. They might make it to the NBA Finals this year.

If you remember well, last year's Indiana Pacers squad was a bit similar. The 2024-25 Indiana Pacers and current Hornets both have similar roster types, led by a terrific point guard from the 2020 class. But digging deeper, there's another similarity.

The Pacers had the best five-man lineup in the NBA last year. Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner were the best lineup by net rating at +13.2. This year, the Hornets have the best lineup by net rating.

best lineup by net rating (min. 750 poss.), last 20 seasons (via Cleaning the Glass)

'26 Ball-Kon-BMill-MB-Moose +30.4
'25 Hali-Nemb-Benn-Siak-Myles +13.2
'24 Dame-Beas-Khris-GA-Brook +15.5
'23 Murray-KCP-MPJ-AG-Jokic +12.7
'22 Smart-JB-JT-Horford-Rob +24.3
'21…
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) March 27, 2026

The LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges, and Moussa Diabaté unit is +30.4 this year, well above the mark that last year's Eastern Conference champions were at. They were a Game 7 injury to Haliburton away from a possible title, and the Hornets are at least in a similar spot heading into the playoffs.

Taking it further back, the reasons to believe that the Hornets are going on a deep run only mount. The best lineup in 2024 belonged to the Milwaukee Bucks, who admittedly lost in the first round.

In 2023, it belonged to the Denver Nuggets, who won the Finals. In 2022, the best lineup was a collection of Boston Celtics. They lost in the Finals. In 2021, the Philadelphia 76ers had the best five-man lineup, and they won a series.

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) and Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) battle | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Keep going down that list, and pretty much every single team that had the best lineup of the year made a deep run, sometimes winning it all. The Hornets might not do that, but history suggests it's extremely possible.

Plus, Charlotte's +30.4 rating (with a few games to go) would be the best net rating in that entire list. All those teams that made deep playoff runs had five-man lineups that weren't quite as dominant as the Hornets' starting five.

It's time to start really believing in what this team can do.

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