By Scott Lauer, hornets.com

Scott Lauer is the radio play-by-play voice of the Charlotte Hornets. His column will appear on hornets.com on Thursdays throughout the season. The opinions expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Hornets organization.

In the fluid Eastern Conference standards, the Hornets are now 28-35 and ½ a game behind the Heat for the last playoff spot. There are 19 games left for the Hornets with eight at home and 11 on the road. Nine of the 19 remaining games are against winning teams. It’s shaping up that between the Hornets, Pacers, Heat and Celtics, two of those four will make the playoffs and two will not.

There are obviously many variables in play as we attempt to dissect the chances for the Hornets to make the playoffs, but a good place to start would be the breakdown of the remaining schedule. Naturally, we would agree that home games are more conducive to winning, as is facing teams with losing records. That said, here’s a look:

HORNETS – 8 home games, 10 vs. losing teams

PACERS - 9 home games, 9 vs. losing teams

HEAT - 10 home games, 9 vs. losing teams

CELTICS - 9 home games, 12 vs. losing teams

Ultimately, injuries prove to be one of the strongest indicators of a team’s success (if rosters are comparable). Most teams get hit, but I submit that the Hornets have suffered more bad luck than most this season. Al Jefferson is the latest casualty, going down in the third quarter last night vs. Sacramento, with calf soreness. Just as Kemba Walker returned, Cody Zeller missed the game with a right shoulder sprain, and now we’re waiting on Jefferson’s status heading into the Bulls game tomorrow night. The top three players on this roster have all missed significant time. Walker has missed 20 games, MKG has been out for 16 and Jefferson has missed nine. Lance Stephenson has missed 14, Bismack Biyombo was out for 18, and on we go. It’s been maddening for Coach Clifford to figure out any type of stable rotation. It’s win-now mode, so every game he’s trying to patch together a rotation that gives the team the best chance to win, and it’s hard to do with players in and out. Their time and/or conditioning are off upon their return, understandably. Additionally, players have to get used to different teammates periodically.

Here’s my Hornets utopia moving forward in the final month of the season – Jefferson and Zeller return quickly from their injuries, bringing the full complement of players back to health. Walker gets back in his rhythm during next week’s road trip and Mo Williams then can come off the bench with the same results that he’s manufactured as a starter with us. Biyombo gets back into his form (we saw signs of that last night) after missing nearly a month and spells Jefferson with effective minutes off the bench.

Let’s end on this note; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has been the Most Improved Player on this team, and arguably the most valuable. He scored a season-high 23 points last night, which is the most that he’s pumped in since dropping 25 points in Miami during last April’s playoff series. He’s logged at least 30 minutes in 10-straight games. The team is 10 games under .500 without him this season; we’ve won without Walker and Jefferson, but not without MKG. Based on his improved mid-range jumper, and his value to this team, he should be on the NBA radar for Most Improved Player.