Charlotte Hornets Playoff Chances November 2023: Tracking the Hornets Playoff Projections

What Are the Hornets Playoff Chances?

The Hornets playoff chances are 11.1%. In normal times, their chances would be zilch. But again, the East is especially weak this season once you get past the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks.

✅ Hornets Playoff Chances:	5.9%
🚫 Hornets Miss Playoffs:	94.1%
↘️ Hornets Win Southeast Div.:	1%
☀️ Hornets Win Eastern Conf.:	0.2%
1️⃣ Hornets Win 1st Round:	N/A
👑 Hornets Win Semi-Finals:	N/A
🏆 Hornets Win NBA Finals:	0.1%
✍️ Last Verified:	November 29, 2023

So if we assume the Bucks and Celtics get out of the first round, we also must assume that two relatively weak teams will be joining them there. The Sixers look like the clear No. 3 team, but after that it is a toss-up.

Do the Hornets Have a Chance to Make the NBA Playoffs?

The Hornets absolutely have a chance to make the NBA playoffs, given the state of the East. We are a long way from April, but 10 teams will make the playoffs and/or the play in, and it only seems safe to write off the Wizards and the Pistons.

In a 15-team conference, that means some less-than-stellar teams are going to be playing in prime time on national television with something tangible at stake. If LaMelo Ball keeps producing triple-doubles and Mark Williams keeps hitting 80 percent of his shots, these Hornets could be the East's biggest surprise team.

All droughts eventually end, and Charlotte's 21-year streak without a playoff series victory cannot last forever.

🎁 MORE: North Carolina Sportsbook Promos

Hornets Week-by-Week Playoff Chances

⭐️ Oct. 11:	17.4%
⭐️ Oct. 23:	17.4%
⭐️ Nov. 7:	11.1%
⭐️ Nov. 17:	5.9%

Charlotte Hornets Playoff Chances: Key Updates November 2023

• 📅 Nov. 17: The Hornets that bet365 North Carolina will be their betting partners in the Tar Heel State.
• 📅 Oct 25: Charlotte opens the regular season with a 116-110 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. They have a .529 win percentage in the month of October historically.
• 📅 Oct. 20: A wrongful death lawsuit is filed against Brandon Miller for "negligence" stemming from a shooting in Tuscaloosa while Miller was a student.
• 📅 Oct. 6: The Hornets preseason win total is set at 30.5.
• 📅 Aug. 29: The Hornets re-sign forward P.J. Washington to a new contract.
• 📅 July 7: LaMelo Ball and the Hornets finalize a five-year, $260M contract extension.
• 📅 July 2: Miles Bridges signs a $7.9M contract to return to the Hornets for the 2023-24 season.
• 📅 June 22: The Hornets draft Alabama forward Brandon Miller with the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
• 📅 April 14: The NBA suspends Miles Bridges for 30 games without pay as a result of a domestic violence incident.

Charlotte Hornets Schedule and Betting Lines

The schedule makers gave the Hornets a friendly end to the season with an eight-game homestand March 27-April 9 before they finish at Atlanta, Boston and Cleveland.

Those are all measuring stick games against the teams competing for the top 8-10 spots in the East, and a successful six weeks will make the second half of the season more promising despite the scheduling hazards. The Hornets have a six-game road trip Dec. 25-Jan. 6 and six of eight on the road Feb. 22-March 3. 

Here is their schedule* through the end of November:

📅 Oct. 25 vs. ATL	✅ W, 116-110
📅 Oct. 27 vs. DET	❌ L, 111-99
📅 Oct. 30 vs. BKN	❌ L, 133-121
📅 Nov. 1 @ HOU	❌ L, 128-119
📅 Nov. 4 @ IND	✅ W, 125-124
📅 Nov. 5 @ DAL	❌ L, 124-118
📅 Nov. 8 vs WAS	❌ L, 132-116
📅 Nov. 10 @ WAS	✅ W, 124-117
📅 Nov. 12 @ NYK	❌ L, 129-107
📅 Nov. 14 vs. MIA	❌ L, 111-105
📅 Nov. 17 vs. MIL	CHA +9, ML +310
📅 Nov. 18 vs. NYK	TBD
📅 Nov. 20 vs. BOS	TBD
📅 Nov. 22 vs. WAS	TBD
📅 Nov. 26 @ ORL	TBD
📅 Nov. 28 @ NYK	TBD
📅 Nov. 30 @ BKN	TBD

We shall get a better reading on the Hornets chances by Dec. 13 after they play an East-heavy stretch that includes three games against Miami, Washington and New York, single games against the Bucks and Celtics and Nets and just a single West opponent in Minnesota.

*Game odds are provided by bet365 North Carolina Sportsbook, the Hornets' official betting partner.

Key Contributors Toward Carolina Hornets Playoff Chances

The Hornets are going to need to continue getting 20-plus points per game from Terry Rozier, stellar field-goal shooting and rebounding numbers from Mark Williams and a ton of 3-pointers from Gordon Hayward in order to have enough strong pieces around their star, LaMelo Ball, to become a playoff team.

Coach Steve Clifford uses a tight rotation and comes from the Jeff Van Gundy school of coaching, where there are no nights off and no load management. If they play every game like it is a playoff game (and almost nobody in the NBA does that), they can surprise a lot of folks.

Where Can I Bet on the Hornets to Make the Playoffs?

Legal sports betting in North Carolina is available at three tribal casinos that have retail sportsbooks on the premises: Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort, Harrah's Cherokee Valley River Casino, and Catawba Two Kings Casino.

A sports betting bill was signed into law in June 2023, and North Carolina online sports betting can begin on Jan. 24, 2023, at the earliest. The state's sports betting law permits up to 11 online North Carolina sports betting apps.

Looking Ahead: Hornets Playoffs Picture

Getting to the playoffs is the entire battle right now. If the Hornets do get there, they will want to finish sixth or better in the East to avoid Boston and Milwaukee in the first round.

The likelihood of that happening will depend upon whether they can become a better defensive team. If you are allowing more than 120 points per night, that ain't going to get the job done in the regular season, the play-in tournament or the playoffs.

Where Do the Hornets Rank in the Eastern Conference Playoff Picture?

Right now, the Hornets rank 13th in the Eastern Conference standings, three games back. The Hornets realistically could finish as high as fourth in the East, and they could realistically finish 11th, 12th or 13th and be left out.

When you are dealing with a team that is so young and not all that deep, they are going to have to ride their starters harder than most of their Eastern competitors.

Somebody is going to come out of nowhere and make some noise in the East this season. The Sixers started just fine without James Harden and added four nice players when they dealt him. The Nets have been OK, the Hawks and Magic have started strong, and everyone else is blah. And when you have a preponderance of blah, that eventually turns into "Ah!" The trick for folks in the online sports betting industry is picking out that blah-to-ah team.

Where Do the Carolina Hornets Rank to Win the 2024 NBA Championships?

The Hornets are tied for last in NBA Championship chances at 0.1%. The Hornets have the same championship chances as the Portland Trail Blazers, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards.

Hornets Playoff Picture Postseason Outlook and Predictions

It is far too early to say with any certainty who will be a play-in/playoff team and who will not, especially in the East. There are too many bad teams and too many variables, of which injuries is only one. But the Hornets definitely have four terrific players in LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward and Mark Williams. Fifth starter P.J. Washington has been a solid contributor for four-plus seasons.

As noted above, the first half of the season will be telling for the Hornets because their schedule is weighted so heavily with Eastern Conference opponents. It is rare for a team to have to peak early, but that is the situation the Hornets find themselves in during the 2022-23 season. If they get through New Year's Eve as a .500 team, their chances of finishing in the top 8 will be boosted considerably.

They are very, very young, but they have the building blocks of what could become a terrific team within two years. We expect them to compete for a play-in spot at the very least right up until the end of the regular season.

A deep playoff run would be a shocker, especially with the amount of points they are allowing. But the East is known as the "Leastern Conference" for a reason, so the opportunity is certainly there.

Who to Root for if You’re a Charlotte Hornets Fan?

You root for every middle-of-the-road Eastern team to lose. That means you are rooting against the Bulls, the Knicks, the Nets, the Pacers, the Magic, the Cavs, the Hawks and the Raptors. If every single one of those teams falters regularly, it is merely a matter of mathematics.

Eight teams will make the playoffs in the East, and the Hornets can be one of them with a little good luck on their end and some bad luck for their bottom-feeding brethren.