Why the Hornets Must Take a Four-Game Win Streak Into the Cooper Flagg Rematch

When you start to think:

“How long ago was it that the Hornets were under pressure to go 4-0 in a stretch of games after the All-Star Break?”

You find yourself in a similar situation to that of Lindsay Lohan at the end of Mean Girls— your Hornets’ school decathlon-winning answer could also be “The limit does not exist…!”

Yet, after sweeping the four-game season series against the Washington Wizards (16-40) on Sunday and ending a two-game losing streak, the Charlotte Hornets (27-31) are right in those shoes.

Under pressure to win the next three games and extend the winning streak to four with the return of Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabaté to the starting lineup.

It’s completely feasible, too.

Charlotte plays Chicago tonight, February 24th, at 8:00PM after winning on the road at Washington. They follow it up with a Thursday game @ Indiana.

Charlotte is 0-2 this season against the Pacers. That’s a streak they have to break and prove they can beat inferior teams consistently.

That’s why this stretch matters beyond a potential four-game win streak. It goes back to the question posed at the start:

This is the first time in easily a decade Charlotte isn’t just expecting to go 4-0 in the locker room, but the fanbase is right there with them. The talent on the roster backs it all up, and fans aren’t dreaming of potential anymore.

It’s time the Hornets took advantage of that and continued to apply pressure on the seventh and eighth seeds in the East: Orlando and Miami, respectively.

Kon Knueppel spoke recently about the confidence they have as a group in an interview I can’t specifically find.

But Knueppel mentioned how, after the OKC win, it showed the players they weren’t crazy. It showed them that they were, in fact, an incredibly talented basketball team.

Knueppel said Charlotte no longer goes in as the hunted; they now go into games as the “hunters.”

It’s exactly the mindset they’ll have to continue having to win not just these next three games. They’ll have to carry it through the other 21 games, and beyond.

Per ESPN Analytics at the All-Star Break, the Hornets could have finished roughly 13-14 in the final 27 and still made the NBA’s Play-In Tournament.

They were projected by those same analytics to need a record of 20-7 to get the sixth seed away from Philadelphia, currently.

They’ve started 1-2 already in those last 27 and still play the second-in-the-east Knicks twice, Boston three times, and the east-leading Pistons once more.

It won’t be an easy road—that’s why, for the first time in at least ten years, Charlotte is under pressure to be 4-0 in their last four (including the WASH win).

If Charlotte does this, they’ll be 4-1 in their last 5 heading into a home rematch of a pre-All-Star break thriller with the Dallas Mavericks and Cooper Flagg next Tuesday night in Charlotte.

It’ll be the first game of a back-to-back between the Mavs and Celtics the next night on the road. A road trip to Miami comes two days after Boston, and then Charlotte hits the west coast again.

Charlotte needs this runway before the going gets even tougher; they have to take advantage of it. It’s the kind of opportunity that head coach Charles Lee has spoken about making sure his team seizes since he began his tenure.

It’s time to put the Hornets new “Hornets DNA” to the test.