Charlotte Hornets’ postseason path has clarity: Journey starts in Spectrum Center
It’s finally happening.
Nearly a decade after the Charlotte Hornets hosted their last postseason game, they will finally have the opportunity to do it again thanks to finishing the 2025-26 campaign ahead of one of their biggest Southeast Division rivals.
With Sunday night’s 110-96 victory at Madison Square Garden over the New York Knicks, who were resting the majority of their starters since they were already locked into their postseason spot, the Hornets secured the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference in the NBA’s play-in tournament.
Completing their best overall finish during the past 10 years gave the Hornets (44-38) a one-game edge over the 10th-place Miami Heat, and that advantage leads to Charlotte welcoming the Heat at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Spectrum Center.
“You always take any win you can get, right?” Coby White said. “Ten years with no postseason game at home. Play-in, playoff, it don’t matter. The regular season is over with. Now you’re playing for something. So, now you’re playing meaningful games from here on out. So it’s important to play in those meaningful games, not only for us players in general, just for the experience of it to get that feeling.
“And not just for your career, but also for the fans, give them something to cheer for.”
Particularly for a starved fan base that hasn’t had much to cheer about until this season rolled around.
“It’s going to be a good one,” LaMelo Ball said. “Good for the city, good for the fans and everybody to handle business.”
The winner advances to meet the loser between No. 7 Philadelphia and No. 8 Orlando on the road at 7:30 p.m. Friday. That matchup will take place in either Orlando or Philadelphia, with the victor grabbing the eighth seed in the conference and the right to head straight to Detroit afterward to meet the top-seeded Pistons in a best-of-seven first-round series.
“It gives you an opportunity and that’s all you can ask for, especially after the start that we had,” coach Charles Lee said, referencing Charlotte’s record of 16-28 in late January. “And then for the guys to just be resilient, dig down a little bit more and give ourselves now an opportunity to get into the postseason, it’s exciting. And I know that we are hungry to be able to deliver.”
Getting past Miami won’t be an easy feat, though.
Not only are the Heat battle-tested given this is the fourth consecutive year Miami has been a part of the play-in tournament field, the Hornets also lost to Miami in three of their four matchups this season.
The good news? Charlotte upended the Heat in its last meeting in uptown, dismantling Miami by 30 points on March 17. The bad news? That win came with Miami missing the services of Bam Adebayo, the Pinetown native and North Carolina’s Mr. Basketball in 2016 who registered the second-most points in NBA history (83) just days before the Hornets beat the Heat. Adebayo sat that one out with right calf tightness, but Charlotte won’t be as fortunate this time around.
Adebayo is healthy and he makes the Heat dangerous, leaving the Hornets with a difficult path they have to navigate in order to advance to the full eight-team playoff field for the first time since 2016, when they lost to Miami in seven games.
“It’s the first time we played at home in the play-in, so I expect our fans to show up and show out,” Miles Bridges said. “And I’m excited for them, but you know we’ve just got to take it one game at a time.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2026 at 8:20 PM.
