Despite remaining outside the Eastern Conference play-in spots, the Charlotte Hornets are starting to build momentum.
Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer notes that Charlotte has won six of its last 12 games, including Tuesday’s win over the Washington Wizards, and that stretch has helped lift the team’s belief.
Sitting at 10-20, the Hornets trail the Milwaukee Bucks by two games and the Chicago Bulls by four and a half, but they feel they’ve weathered early injuries and are positioned to push for postseason relevance.
Coach Charles Lee credits much of the recent progress to a sharper defensive approach and cleaner offensive execution.
“I think some of it’s our defensive intensity. I feel like our defensive continues to get better. The games that we win, our defensive rating is usually in a really good spot. And then offensive, I feel like ever since the game at Brooklyn, we’ve done such a better job of trusting the pass, playing the pass,” he said.
“I come up here a lot of games now and I’m talking about how many assists we had on how we made field goals. And it’s a testament to our overall pace. But also guys getting out of screens, our execution in the half court and our execution in the early offense is really good.”
Hornets Notes: Play-In Prospects, Sexton, Kalkbrenner, Williams, Knueppel https://t.co/xJcXLMYRES pic.twitter.com/DLplR0S2zX
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) December 25, 2025
