Charlotte Hornets: 5 keys to making the playoffs

The Hornets need to win the close games

More worrisome than their road woes is the team’s propensity to not do well in close games.

There’s really no in-between for this team; they either end up in a game that is decided by 10 or more points (32 times this season) or in a game decided by three or fewer points (13 times this season).

While they have done well in games with a margin of victory of 10 or more points (18-14 record), the Hornets have struggled with the close games.

In games decided by three or fewer points, they Hornets have ended up on the losing end 10 different times. Only the Utah Jazz have a worse winning percentage in close games.

This has either been due to a hot start that they could not sustain, a horrendous third quarter, or just attempting a big comeback with little time left on the clock.

The positive is that some of the games have come against the best of the Eastern Conference, proving they can hang with the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers. But they’ve also managed to lose close games to the Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Pistons and the New York Knicks.

There are plenty of quality opponents left on the team’s schedule, but still some manageable wins as well. If they end up losing more close games to the Orlando Magic and others, they could end up on the outside looking in come playoff time.