Perhaps eventually, the Charlotte Hornets can call the team located down I-85 something beyond a Southeast Division foe. Just not today.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a rivalry,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “Most rivalries are built in the playoff series to be honest with you, I don’t sense any difference coming here than anywhere else.”
State Farm Arena might be the site of the Hornets’ last play-in tournament appearance, the very place that proved to be a house of horrors in 2021. But as Saturday night’s 132-91 loss to the Atlanta Hawks showed, the Hornets are a long way from even sniffing the postseason and are instead finishing up another disappointing, injury-ravaged campaign.