The Boston Celtics came out victorious against the Charlotte Hornets last night, which is a bigger deal than it has been in recent years. The Hornets have been on a tear over the latter half of the 2025-26 season. After starting at 13-25, or even much worse, earlier at 4-14, Charlotte now finds themselves at 43-36.
Going 30-11 since their subpar first half has made many compare them to the 2021-22 Celtics, a team that made the NBA Finals, yes, but more than that, had quite an epic turnaround over the course of that season.
After struggling just to keep their heads above water for the first half of the season, Boston also went on a tear, as they went from the No. 11 seed to the No. 2 seed when it was all said and done. The similarities are not completely unfounded, as the Hornets also look like a team that found their footing at the perfect time.
However, all this time later, the Hornets are still fighting to get a playoff spot, and that's where the comparison falters. Boston was among the highest seeds in the East thanks to their efforts, while Charlotte is still in danger of missing the playoffs.
There's definitely a former Celtics team that this Hornets team should remind many of, but it's not that Celtics team. Because they will, at best, finish with one of the lower seeds in the East, the Hornets are more like the 2014-15 Celtics.
That team had a similar turnaround, where, after a subpar start to the season, they got the one key ingredient they needed - some dude named Isaiah Thomas - and they suddenly went from lottery-bound to playoff-bound.
It was amazing to watch in real time. Thomas gave the Celtics hope when many thought it was too early to think about that (it hadn't even been two years since they blew themselves up). To this day, that team is still remembered pretty fondly.
The Hornets have been more dominant over the last 41 games than the Celtics were once they got IT, but when it was all done, they will likely be in the same position Boston was in the early IT days.
That doesn't mean the Hornets aren't up next
Like the Celtics were back then, this is just the start for the Hornets. Absolutely no one thinks this is as good as it gets for them. With current stars like LaMelo Ball and rising stars like Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller, the future is bright.
There's a lot to like about Charlotte's future. Whether they make the playoffs or not, they have made it clear to the entire Eastern Conference that they're ready to compete with the very best. It's not like finishing with a lower seed in the playoffs and/or getting ousted in the first round is bad.
In fact, for most teams with glorious futures, that more often than has only been the start. This Hornets team will have a much higher ceiling than those IT-Celtics teams were at the end of the day. if that means they lose in the first round or don't make the playoffs at all, that really shouldn't stop the freight train.