Bob Licht

March 10, 2006

How important is tonight’s game against the Indiana Pacers?

Considering the team’s current four-game losing streak, and considering the team’s upcoming schedule, and considering its position in the Western Conference standings, it may be the biggest game for the franchise since Game 7 of the 2004 playoffs against Miami.

Is this just another blatant example of a broadcaster overstating the facts?

Perhaps.

But consider the following numbers and judge for yourselves.

(1) AFTER INDIANA: The Hornets’ next three games after the Pacers are all against division leaders and all in different buildings: New Jersey, Atlantic Division leader, on Sunday at the Ford Center; San Antonio, Southwest Division, on Tuesday at the AT&T Center; and Denver, Northwest Division, a week from Saturday at the New Orleans Arena. The combined record of those three opponents is 112-69 (.618).

(2) BEFORE INDIANA: The Hornets, Lakers, Kings and Jazz are in the seventh through 10th spots in the Western Conference, but are separated by just three games in the loss column.

(3) AFTER INDIANA: The Hornets still have two games remaining against the Lakers (both on the road), one game remaining against the Kings (on the road), and two games remaining against the Jazz (one home, one road).

(4) BEFORE INDIANA: The Hornets have lost four straight games (one short of their season high) and six of their eight games since the All-Star break.

(5) AFTER INDIANA: The Hornets will still have two West Coast road trips (six games total) remaining with just 21 games left on the regular season schedule.

(6) BEFORE INDIANA: The Hornets have not won a home game since the All-Star break (0-3) and are averaging just 90.3 points in those three losses. Prior to the break the Hornets had lost just eight home games in their first three and half months.

Okay, so losing to the Indiana Pacers isn’t the end of the season for the Hornets, but, looking ahead and looking behind makes it obvious just how arduous the task of finishing among the top eight teams and making the playoffs could be.

A win on Friday night at the Ford Center relieves some pressure from this young team. Although to be honest with you, those pressure-packed, late-season, playoff-intense, stretch run, do-or-die games may be just the elixir to speed up the long-term growth of this talented, young Hornets team that has been the talk of the NBA through most of the 2005-2006 campaign.