Getty Jeremy Lamb #3 of the Charlotte Hornets dribbles the ball against the Indiana Pacers.
The Charlotte Hornets are still in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt after Jeremy Lamb’s absurd half-court heave to beat the Hornets Sunday 115-114 at the buzzer. After taking an inbounds pass with 3.1 seconds left, he had the ball knocked out of his hands. He retreated behind the midcourt stripe, and launched a desperation moonshot practically into the rafters. Somehow, it fell through.
Charlotte (34-39) has won 3 straight contests, 2 of them against Eastern powers Toronto and Boston (the other was versus Minnesota) . The Hornets now only trail the Miami Heat by 2 games for the No. 8 spot, and the Orlando Magic by 1.5.
Unfortunately for Lamb and company, the mountain is steep to the remaining spot in the playoffs. They host the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night (7 p.m. EST, Fox Sports Regiona) before a 4-game West Coast swing.
Charlotte head coach James Borrego, a former assistant to Gregg Popovich, will have to find a way to slow down LaMarcus Aldridge. The Spurs center went 9/15 in the first quarter alone in the last game against the Celtics, finishing with 48 points. With Hornets center Cody Zeller questionable with a knee injury, Frank Kaminsky needs to rise to the occasion.
Let’s take a look at Charlott’es playoff chances entering Tuesday, most likely seeding and remaining schedule.
Hornets Playoff Chances & Potential Seeds
The numbers say the Hornets may be holding onto playoff hopes by a thread. According to Playoff Status, Charlotte enters the evening with just a 15 percent chance of making the postseason. That split up into a 9 percent chance at the 8-seed, 4 percent at the 7-seed and a 2 percent chance at the 6-seed.
ESPN’s BPI is slightly less optimistic, giving the Hornets just over 11 percent odds. The metric also predicts a 37-45 record, which projects to 3 games behind the Heat for the No. 8 seed. Orlando would finish a game above Charlotte in this scenario, as well.
A win tonight would be a huge boost. Per Playoff Status, an upset over San Antonio bolsters the overall postseason chances to 21 percent, while a loss brings them down to a paltry 9 percent.
Most Important Games Down the Road for the Hornets
Unfortunately for the Hornets, they have one of the more difficult remaining schedule out of Eastern Conference teams according to Playoff Status. Including tonight, Charlotte has 6 of its remaining 9 games against teams fighting for positioning in the playoffs (Spurs, @Warriors, @Jazz, Raptors, @Pistons, Magic).
Team Rankings pegs their final record at 37-45. With 9 games left, there are 6 games left with win probablities under 50 percent. Road trips to Golden State, Utah, New Orleans, Detroit and Los Angeles (Lakers) are all under 39 percent.
The path forward is this: beat the Cavaliers on the road on April 9. Without a win there, the odds plummet. After that, hold serve in the 3 home games against the Raptors, Spurs and Magic. A sweep in the 4 games just noted gets Charlotte to 38 wins.
After that, they likely have to steal at least 2 games, as BPI projects No. 8 seed Miami with a 40-42 record. The 2 likeliest options are against the Pelicans and Lakers, who appear to be shutting down for draft positioning.
With the majority of the rest of the slate on the road, Charlotte will have to reverse an ugly trend. The Hornets are 11-24 away from Spectrum Center.