What Hornets clinching first winning season in half-decade means in playoff push
When the notification hit Friday, alerting Charles Lee of the important electronic message sitting in his inbox, he couldn’t help but react.
“It’s amazing,” the Charlotte Hornets coach said. “I saw the email come across today and (it) brought a smile to my face, especially going through what we had to go through last year and trying to build from that point forward. It’s great for our whole organization, for our fan base to be able to enjoy some postseason play because they’re definitely deserving.”
Exactly when, where and against whom is still up in the air.
There’s not much clarity yet, despite the Hornets taking care of business against the Indiana Pacers in a 129-108 victory at Spectrum Center on Friday in the penultimate home game of the regular season.
Now already guaranteed its first winning season since 2021-22, Charlotte (42-36) remains in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings, trailing seventh-place Toronto by 1.5 games. The Hornets sit one game ahead of Orlando and 1.5 games in front of 10th-place Miami.
“I think it’s exciting to play meaningful games around this time of the year, doing it with your brothers, people you see every day,” said Brandon Miller, who led the Hornets with 22 points. “You can’t go wrong with that. We work out every day in the summer just for moments like this.
“So, I think all we can do is just live up to them and then do what we do. And, of course, it’s just play to our strengths.”
That’s what has the Hornets in position to end the NBA’s longest current playoff drought. Don’t think they’re ready to stop and smell the flowers, though.
“Yeah, we’re proud of the direction that we’re going in, but the biggest thing that we want to try to find is consistency, sustained success,” Lee said. “So while this is a great stepping stone, we are all hungry and focused on just the continued commitment to getting better.”
Here are some key takeaways from the Hornets’ third straight win:
LaMelo Ball’s health
Remember all that chatter weeks ago about LaMelo Ball’s availability?
Seems like light years ago at this point.
Even with the Hornets immersed in back-to-back, which meant Grant Williams sat out due to injury management as he has all season, there was never a question of whether Ball would suit up against the Pacers. It shows just how far things have come with Ball, who went through the minutes restriction experimentation in January.
Ball posted 18 points, nine assists and five rebounds, and the star point guard has logged action in 68 games now, easily the second most since he entered the league in 2020. His last missed game was Dec. 18 and he has played in the Hornets’ past 51 outings, serving as evidence that his surgically repaired ankles are just fine.
“I’m really proud of him, I’m proud of our performance staff and coaching staff,” Lee said. “Melo has done a great job of taking his recovery, taking all the preparation he needs to do behind the scenes to a whole ‘nother level, and that is ultimately helping him. I also think that he is even developing this mindset with our whole group, but Melo’s at the forefront of it. Just trying to play through some things like little nagging injuries that maybe before we didn’t always do.
“And so I think that it’s creating more of a toughness to our group. And then, again, the performance staff, the coaching staff, understanding, you know, what metrics to be tracking day to day and making sure he is upholding the standards and meeting things. They’ve done a great job of managing him, and I think when it comes to minutes, we’ve been trying to find ways to just maximize his total momentum.”
Kon Knueppel fan club still growing
During Indiana’s previous trip to uptown this season back on Jan. 8, when the Hornets took apart the Pacers, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle was very complimentary of Kon Knueppel.
Carlisle remarked then that Knueppel was one of the most consistent rookies he’s ever seen, which means something coming from someone with the credentials to land himself in the Hall of Fame. In the time since then, nothing much has changed.
In fact, Knueppel is becoming an increasing favorite to win the NBA’s rookie of the year over former Duke teammate Cooper Flagg.
Knueppel, for a young player, is very mature,” Carlisle said. “I really admire his kind of quiet tenacity. He just doesn’t get emotionally high or low. He’s just very, very consistent.”
Sion James has another way of describing his fellow Duke product.
“It’s special,” James said. “There’s a few ways to put it. He’s just been so consistent throughout the year. He’s been showing up every day as the same guy. He’s had a great attitude. He doesn’t big-time anything. He comes in, does his approach the same way every day, treats it the same way every day, weight room the same way every day, workouts the same way every single day.
“So, the success you’re seeing isn’t a surprise, but super exciting seeing it. I say all the time, he’s a super easy guy to cheer for because of all those things, just because he’s a good dude.”
Moussa Diabate out, Ryan Kalkbrenner in
With Moussa Diabate sidelined with left foot soreness, keeping him out of the lineup for the first time since Feb. 22, that paved the way for the guy who began the regular season as the Hornets’ starting center to step back into the role.
Ryan Kalkbrenner was tabbed by Lee to be on the floor with the main unit that included Ball, Knueppel, Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges. And the 7-footer — who’s averaged 6.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in 14 appearances over the past month — came through, tossing in seven points and collecting eight rebounds in 24 minutes.
That’s the type of effective production the Hornets need as they navigate the stretch run, and Lee likes the in-season growth from the 24-year-old Creighton product.
“His instincts are just getting better and better. With more reps, he’s understanding where he has to be on the court. The physicality of the game is something that he’s gotten better at, but that’s a whole other step he can take in the offseason. Some of it is obviously your overall weight room physical strength, and some of it is just technique.
“He’s continuing to learn the technique every game of where he’s got to be, and it’s the first time he’s played against this type of athleticism and size every game. He probably only saw it every now and again in college, but it’s a different type of consistent level of physicality and athleticism that he’s seeing.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 10:17 PM.
