What Charlotte Hornets’ loss to Boston Celtics means in NBA playoff picture
Just getting to this point, where competing in meaningful games on national television is the norm, is a sign of the culture shift within the Charlotte Hornets.
“It’s very exciting and I’m proud of the group,” coach Charles Lee said. “The thing that they’ve done is literally be obsessed with trying to get better every day, not taking a day for granted. And you could see there is a hunger level, there is an excitement that is really fueling our team to be able to go out and compete at a high level.”
They’re going to need an octane boost if they want to have postseason basketball in uptown Charlotte this month after dropping a 113-102 decision to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Tuesday night, failing to ride LaMelo Ball’s 36 points.
With two games left, Charlotte (43-37) sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference — a half-game behind idle eighth-place Orlando and 1.5 off the pace of sixth-place Toronto — and holds a 1.5 game advantage over 10th-place Miami, which lost in Toronto on Tuesday night.
Although there’s still time left for the Hornets to climb above the eighth spot, which would guarantee at least one home postseason game for the first time since 2016, they no longer control their own destiny and need help to have the opportunity to be a host.
Whether the Hornets will have Coby White available in either of their final two matchups is unclear.
White sat out with a sore left groin, marking his first absence since March 10 when he missed the first end of a back-to-back. It’s a different injury than the calf issues he was dealing with prior to the Feb. 4 trade from Chicago, which caused the deal to be amended, resulting in the Bulls receiving two second-round picks from the Hornets rather than three.
Initially listed as probable, White got downgraded to questionable following the Hornets’ morning shootaround. Then about an hour prior to tipoff, he was deemed out, leaving the backup point guard duties mostly to rookie Sion James.
“I think our group is going to learn from this one,” Lee said. “Looking forward to getting back home. I think we are going to have a great practice and get ready to play a really tough team — obviously the No. 1 seed — in the Detroit Pistons.”
Here’s what else the Hornets had to say of note in Boston:
On Kon Knueppel’s ceiling
“There is no ceiling for Kon,” Lee said. “As hard as he works, he’s going to be able to accomplish whatever he wants to do because he is just so focused on getting better individually and helping his team any way he possibly can. The competitive spirit, the care factor is just so high that there is no ceiling. In terms of his shooting and just his practice, he’s got great habits.
“I think there is consistency to his habits. As a shooter he’s got a great base to him and the thing that’s most impressive, is the variety of shots that he can hit. It’s catch-and-shoot, it’s off the dribble … The fact that he can do it so many ways is what makes him elite, too. He’s not a one-trick pony.”
Knueppel had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists in the loss to Boston.
On what the Hornets do similar to Boston
“There’s definitely some,” Lee said. “I’ve kind of been able to pick from everywhere I went and use some of it. And one of the things here that they do so well is the togetherness, the ball movement.
“That was consistent with a lot of the groups I had in Milwaukee and Atlanta as well. But how they teach it, how they work every day — some of the collaborative group stuff instead of individual work all the time — was pretty impactful.”
On if opposing teams play the Hornets different now
“I definitely think we have gained or earned more respect from teams, but I think the physicality is still there and always was there,” Lee said. “I think our guys are just learning how to play through it a little bit more. Our playing style offensively has changed a little, but in general from last year the availability of more of our players, the consistency of lineups.
“Defensively, we’ve just turned the corner with our connectedness. And a lot of that connectedness is (because) our communication is getting better and understanding the importance of the defensive side of the ball.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 11:02 PM with the headline "What Charlotte Hornets’ loss to Boston Celtics means in NBA playoff picture."
