INDIANAPOLIS, March 24 (Ticker) -- The loss of center Elden Campbell hardly slowed down the Charlotte Hornets.

Jamal Mashburn scored a season-high 36 points as the surging Hornets overcame Campbell's absence to defeat the Indiana Pacers, 99-84, for their sixth straight victory.

NBA TV highlights from Hornets-Pacers: 56k | 300k Jamal Mashburn's season-high 36 points helped pace the Hornets. Ron Hoskins/NBAE/Getty Images

The hottest team in the Eastern Conference, Charlotte (36-33) took over sole possession of seventh place in the East and beat Indiana (35-34) for the second time in five days. The Hornets defeated the Pacers, 94-88, at home on Wednesday.

"We're trying to treat this last part of the season like it's the NCAA Tournament where every game is important because the Eastern Conference is up for grabs," Mashburn said.

In less than two weeks, the Hornets have gone from being out of the playoff picture to setting their sights on home-court advantage in the first round.

Only 2 1/2 games separate the third- through seventh-place teams, and the Hornets have a favorable schedule, with 10 of their last 13 games against sub.-500 teams.

"We're on a six-game winning streak and the guys seem to be playing better and better," Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. "Home-court advantage for the Pacers is no joking matter. We wanted to push early and not quit."

Campbell did not play after suffering a strained right hamstring in the first quarter of Friday's 106-92 victory in Orlando.

Baron Davis helped pick of the slack for the Hornets with 21 points, while P.J. Brown grabbed 19 rebounds, giving him 63 in four games against Indiana this season.

"We are playing good team ball right now, unselfish basketball," Brown said. "Defensively, this is the hardest we've been playing all year. We're rebounding hard, we're pushing the ball on offense and looking for transition opportunities and to control the tempo of the game."

The Pacers dropped to eighth in the East but remained 3 1/2 games ahead of the Washington Wizards, who lost to Toronto on Sunday. Indiana has won five of its last seven, with both losses coming to Charlotte.

"Right now, they're better than us," Indiana coach Isiah Thomas said. "They do it all.

They rebound, defend and score. They've got all the pieces to make it work and the experience to match."

The Pacers sliced a 19-point deficit to 80-78 on Jermaine O'Neal's jumper with 7:17 left. But Jamaal Magloire made 1-of-2 from the line and Mashburn hit a pair of jumpers to give the Hornets an 85-78 lead.

Reggie Miller scored 24 points and O'Neal added 23 for the Pacers, who played without center Brad Miller, a last-minute scratch due to a left groin injury.

Charlotte ended the contest with an 8-0 run as Indiana went scoreless for the final 2 1/2 minutes, missing its last seven shots.

"They have a lot of big guys that they can throw at you 1-2-3," Pacers forward Jeff Foster said. "We cannot let that happen and let their big guys come in and push us around. We were sluggish tonight and they were the better team."

Magloire started for Campbell and scored 11 points in the first quarter, helping the Hornets open a 28-20 lead. Charlotte outscored the Pacers by the same score in the second period to build a 56-40 cushion at the intermission.

"We tried to run on them and get easy baskets and get some free throws," Mashburn said. "From our standpoint, we're a veteran ballclub and we know what type of intensity we need to play with."

Charlotte grabbed its biggest lead, 59-40, on Mashburn's 3-pointer with 11:10 remaining in the third period. The Pacers closed to 75-64 entering the final quarter.

After Reggie Miller's tip-in pulled Indiana within 77-72 with 10:02 remaining, Davis drilled a 3-pointer to make it 80-72. O'Neal scored six straight puts to pull the Pacers within two.

The Hornets placed five players in double figures as Magloire contributed 14 points and Robert Traylor and P.J. Brown added 10 apiece.

Charlotte shot 49 percent (35-of-71) from the field while holding Indiana to just under 34 percent (30-of-89). Ron Artest contributed 11 points for the Pacers.