Wasps use defense to spark recent spike and rebound from early November ice skating

A quarter of the way into the 21-22 NBA season and the Charlotte Hornets are staring at the reality of finishing in the top four at the Eastern Conference at the end of the season.

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Thoughts of a high seed have begun to fade for the Hornets, who have had an impressive start to the season, going 5-2 in games in October – including a win in Brooklyn – but the wheel fell in November when the team struggled, losing five games in a row including West defeats to Golden State, both Los Angeles and Sacramento.

However, behind their young stars like LaMelo Ball, Mile Bridges and Kelly Oubre Jr, the team has rejuvenated their season.

After the team eliminated Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, the Hornets found themselves on a three-game winning streak and won eight of nine overall to rise to fifth in the East with a 13-8 score. .

During this time period, they beat both Washington and Golden State respectively when they topped their respective conferences.

At the start of the season, the Hornets won on their attack, but on their current winning streak, head coach James Borrego believes defense is leading to victory.

“I think we’ve played better in the last 10 games,” Borrego said. “I think our defence has changed direction. We’ve shown that we’re a defensive team that can defend and I think in the last 10 games we’ve been in the top 10 defensively and that’s the goal, to maintain that. Every night, when we are the aggressive team and we are defending, we have the ability to win every night. ”

To highlight that fact, it should be noted that in their win over the league-leading Warriors, the Hornets kept them to 102 points – their second-lowest total of the season.

The Hornets will now travel to Houston to face the 2-16 Rockets before the Ball brothers take on Monday in Chicago. This will come before games against the Bucks, Hawks and home and away series against the Philadelphia 76ers, who could see Joel Embiid return to the lineup.

The Hornets are looking to reach the knockout stages for the first time since the 2015-16 season. During the current season, Hornet is ranked Defensive Rank 21st, but in this nine-game period, they fourth place.

They are ranked 9th in insult rating, and if they can combine the two together with injury luck, this could finally be the year they make things happen after the season.