Charlotte Hornets: 5 Reasons Behind Promising Start

The Charlotte Hornets have won six of their last eight games and are starting to find their rhythm. Here’s how they’ve been getting it done.

The Charlotte Hornets may only sport an 11-8 record, but they’ve still been one of the league’s biggest overachievers so far in 2015-16. They’ve won six of their last eight games, and those two losses have come against the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.

For a team that lost its best defender in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist before the season even started, the way that Charlotte’s recovered from an early 5-6 start has been impressive — especially when you remember the Hornets were 6-21 and surrendered nearly eight more points per 100 possessions in games without him last year (as opposed to 27-28 with him healthy).

The Hornets aren’t going to be challenging the Cleveland Cavaliers’ vice grip on the Eastern Conference anytime soon, but they’ve been a nice early season story nonetheless. The question is, how have the Hornets defied the odds with MKG out and the rest of the East suddenly getting a whole lot better?

From offseason additions to the obvious subtraction of Lance Stephenson (who should honestly get his own special place on this list), the Hornets have found a rhythm that sounds an awful lot like bringing the buzz back. Here’s a look at the five biggest reasons behind Charlotte’s recent resurgence.

Next: No. 5