Making the playoffs is something that’s extremely important for the Charlotte Hornets, and really, any team in the NBA. The Eastern Conference is getting better every day with teams like the Cavaliers and Hawks on hot streaks, which makes it increasingly harder for teams to make the playoffs in the East.

Still, making the cut in the East is much easier than it is in the Western Conference.

The Hornets currently have the eighth seed in the East, which would just barely get them into the playoffs. They are on a decent run, but with the East finally getting hot, can they make the playoffs?

Of course, if they play like they have recently, they can make the playoffs. They’ve played well as a team, and young guys have done a great job stepping up. As a result, they’ve been able to win nine of their last twelve games.

The Hornets can go into the All Star break strong, leaving them lots of time to look ahead to the second half of the season, and making it even more successful than the first.

Looking at their schedule after the break, they’ve got a few things going for them. The Hornets are playing very well when facing teams under .500, and after the All Star break, 66% of the teams they will see are in fact, under .500. This is a percentage up from before the All Star break, which was about 57%.

So, if all goes according to plan, and if the Hornets were to play exactly as well as they have all season, they should be able to make the playoffs.

However, anyone who pays attention to the Hornets at all knows that they aren’t going to play exactly as well as they have so far this season, because they are improving every single day. Even without Kemba Walker, they continue to rattle out wins, and are on a decent win run going into the All Star break.

If they can continue to work well together and win games, imagine what they could do once Kemba is back. The Hornets are one of the more overlooked teams in the NBA, but that might be completely okay with them if they’re able to spark a quiet fire in the Eastern Conference.

They’ve been able to hold their own against Eastern teams ranked higher than them. The Hornets have beaten teams currently ranked higher than them on five occasions.

If they can just continue to improve all season, they could potentially grab the seventh or sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, setting them up nicely in the playoffs.

To put that into perspective, if the playoffs were to start today, and the Hornets had the seventh seed, they would play the Raptors, who they’ve only played once this year, but won impressively 103-95.

It’s clear the Hornets are on the rise. It’s also clear that with what they’ve done, they can get themselves into the playoffs, especially in the Eastern Conference.

The playoffs are in sight, but the Hornets will need to work hard every day to reach that goal.