{"id":576674,"date":"2026-04-10T21:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/576674\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T21:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:32:08","slug":"whats-on-the-line-with-play-in-berth-clinched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/576674\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s on the line with play-in berth clinched"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">The video above is a live stream of WBTV and affiliated programming, and may not be directly related to the article below.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) &#8211; The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/sports\/hornets\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/sports\/hornets\/\">Charlotte Hornets<\/a> were on the bring of the playoffs heading into the final regular-season home game on Friday against the Detroit Pistons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Hornets have clinched a spot in the play-in for the first time since 2022. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Hornets will host the Detroit Pistons on Friday, April 10, at the Spectrum Center, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. It is the first game between the teams since the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/12\/hornets-fans-see-chaos-with-their-own-eyes\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/12\/hornets-fans-see-chaos-with-their-own-eyes\/\">brawl in February<\/a>, which resulted in four players being suspended.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">&#8212;&gt; Video: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/12\/hornets-fans-see-chaos-with-their-own-eyes\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/12\/hornets-fans-see-chaos-with-their-own-eyes\/\">Hornets fans relive chaotic Monday night game courtside as brawl unfolded against Pistons<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Charlotte is 0-2 against Detroit this season, with the most recent a 110-104 loss on Feb. 9.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">They Hornets finish the regular season on the road against the New York Knicks on Sunday, April 12.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s on the line<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Hornets are currently 9th in the standings at 43-37 entering Friday\u2019s game against the Pistons, who lead the Eastern Conference at 58-22. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Charlotte clinched at least a spot in the play-in &#8212; something they haven\u2019t done since 2022. However, the Hornets are winless in the play-in, at 0-2.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Charlotte could finish as high as the No. 5 seed and avoid the play-in altogether &#8212; but they would need to win their remaining two games, and get help from other teams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">For now, the Hornets are locked into the play-in regardless of how the regular season ends. They\u2019ll have a chance to be a 7th, 8th or 9th seed in the Eastern Conference play-in. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The play-in will take place from April 14-17.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Hornets haven\u2019t been to the playoffs since 2016, the longest NBA playoff drought in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The Pistons are the top team in the Eastern Conference with 58 wins. They\u2019ll host the No. 8 seed for the play-in. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The playoffs start on April 18.<\/p>\n<p>Hornets-Pistons February brawl<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Friday night\u2019s game between Charlotte and Detroit at the Spectrum Center will be the first game between the teams since Feb. 9, when Detroit won 110-104.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The loss to the Pistons snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Hornets. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">However, the game was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/10\/it-was-fun-next-question-hornets-forward-shrugs-off-chaotic-on-court-fight-vs-pistons\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/10\/it-was-fun-next-question-hornets-forward-shrugs-off-chaotic-on-court-fight-vs-pistons\/\">overshadowed by a brawl<\/a> that resulted in four players being ejected, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/11\/4-players-ejected-after-hornets-pistons-fight-suspended-by-nba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/11\/4-players-ejected-after-hornets-pistons-fight-suspended-by-nba\/\">later suspended<\/a>. Hornets coach Charles Lee was also ejected later in the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Hornets players Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate were suspended for four games each. The Pistons\u2019 Isaiah Stewart was suspended for seven games, and Jalen Duren was suspended for two games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">&#8212;&gt; Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/11\/4-players-ejected-after-hornets-pistons-fight-suspended-by-nba\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/2026\/02\/11\/4-players-ejected-after-hornets-pistons-fight-suspended-by-nba\/\">4 players ejected after Hornets-Pistons fight suspended by NBA<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Brandon Miller led the Hornets with 24 points during that game, while LaMelo Ball and Kon Knueppel each scored 20.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 33 points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/sports\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wbtv.com\/sports\/\">Click here for more sports news<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"copyright |\">Copyright 2026 WBTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The video above is a live stream of WBTV and affiliated programming, and may not be directly related&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-576674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}