Despite Recent Blip, Hornets Remain One of NBA's Best/Most Efficient Teams

It may have been two literal months of basketball, but there was always a fear among Charlotte Hornets fans that the January and February hot streak was fool's gold. In our defense, we've literally never had this before.

And when February turned to March, things got harder. It definitely seemed like a "Linsanity run" when they lost a heartbreaker to Miami and then turned around and split a four-game road trip, only beating the Portland Trail Blazers and the tanking Sacramento Kings.

Fear not, though. The Hornets have bounced back, and the underlying metrics suggest they're still a legitimate team. It wasn't just a flash in the pan. In their last 10 games, which include those three losses to Miami, Phoenix, and San Antonio, they still own the fourth-best net rating.

The Efficiency Landscape. What jumps out? pic.twitter.com/l9HsvtoryG
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) March 20, 2026

What's perhaps more encouraging is that during that span, they own the seventh-best offense. The defense being fifth is inspiring, but defense doesn't really have off nights. Offense does, and the Hornets enjoyed some of those.

They shot 38% from the field in a 13-point loss to the Spurs. They scored just 99 in a 12-point loss to the Suns. Those were evidently aberrations, but it certainly felt like the Hornets were finally returning to who fans were concerned they truly were.

One note on that defense, they allowed 128 points to Miami during the 10-game stretch, but they've been buoyed by some excellent efforts. In the last 10, three opponents haven't cracked 100. Two of them scored 90 or fewer points.

This all bodes really well. The NBA season is long, so there are going to be some dry spells. Fortunately for the Hornets, theirs seemingly only lasted five games, and surrounding that five-game lull was another overall excellent stretch.

The rest of the East, notably the Hawks who pulled a Hornets and refused to lose at all, has gotten hot at this time, too, so Charlotte's run to 36-34 has not been met with much rise in the standings. They're still 10th.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) drives to the basket past Charlotte Hornets center Ryan Kalkbrenner | Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images

Nevertheless, these metrics prove that the two-month hot streak is both legit and probably not entirely over. It wasn't a flash in the pan, and as pessimistic as some of us might be, it's definitely past time to admit that the bugs are real this year.

Maybe it won't translate to postseason success given the short nature of the Play-In and the difficult road to the sixth seed in the remaining weeks, but it bodes well for 2026-27 if nothing else.

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