Hornets Extra: A look at the Eastern Conference Standings

With the playoff races heating up down the stretch in the last few weeks of the 2014-15 NBA regular season, we have decided to start giving you the fans updates on the latest teams vying for playoff position, as well as the latest on the heated battle for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference, in which the Charlotte Hornets are involved with at this moment in time.

Last night, the Pacers lost their game to the Boston Celtics, meaning that the Hornets gained some ground in their chances of moving up to the 7th seed, while the Miami Heat had the night off. So entering play today, the standings look like this:

1. Atlanta Hawks: 51-14, Clinched playoff berth

2. Cleveland Cavailers: 42-25

3. Toronto Raptors: 39-26

4. Chicago Bulls: 40-27

5. Washington Wizards: 38-28

6. Milwaukee Bucks: 34-32

7. Indiana Pacers: 30-35

8. CHARLOTTE HORNETS: 29-35

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9. Miami Heat: 29-36

10. Boston Celtics: 29-36

11. Brooklyn Nets: 26-38

Hornets Extra: Hornets 101, Bulls 91

91

101

With the final few weeks of the regular season rapidly approaching, the time for the Charlotte Hornets to make a major statement in the battle for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race is now, and last night, before a sellout crowd of 19,183 at Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte battled back twice and would eventually pull away from the Chicago Bulls, as they ended their short losing streak and got back on the winning track with a 101-91 win, as the Hornets improve to 29-35 on the season, and move back into sole possession of 8th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

It was indeed a solid, but yet, terrific win, according to Hornets head coach Steve Clifford. "Do we need everybody to bring it every night? Yes we do, and for 18 games, we can do that." Clifford said on what his team must do in the next 18 games to clinch back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in the modern era of Charlotte NBA Basketball(2004-present).

"We just try harder." said Gerald Henderson, who led the way with 20 points in the win for the Hornets, as he was one of 7 players that reached double figures for Charlotte in the win. Joining him were Mo Williams, who has continuously been playing strong basketball since he was acquired by the Hornets two weeks ago, and he finished with 18 points on the night. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had a good game in the win, ending it with 13 points, while Marvin Williams added in 12 in the effort, with Bismack Biyombo, Kemba Walker, and Jason Maxiell all adding in 10 points each, with Biyombo adding in 10 rebounds in his start in the place of Al Jefferson.

Chicago was led in scoring by Aaron Brooks, who had a game-high 24 points in the loss for the Bulls, while Pau Gasol added in 18 points.  The Hornets will hit the road for a tough 5-game road trip, which gets started on Monday night in Salt Lake City, as they square off against the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena for a 9:00 p.m. start.

Updated Eastern Conference Standings

1. Atlanta Hawks: 51-14^
2. Cleveland Cavaliers: 42-25
3. Toronto Raptors: 39-26
4. Chicago Bulls: 40-27
5. Washington Wizards: 37-28
6. Milwaukee Bucks: 34-31
7. Indiana Pacers: 30-34
8. CHARLOTTE HORNETS: 29-35
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9. Miami Heat: 29-36
10. Boston Celtics: 28-36
11. Brooklyn Nets: 25-38

Hornets Extra: Hornets 115, Nets 91

115

91

As we head towards the final two months of the 2014-15 NBA season, it is time for many teams to come up with some key "Statement" wins if they want to improve their chances of making it to the NBA Playoffs, and for the Charlotte Hornets, last night's game was indeed a "Statement" win on the road, coming away with a 115-91 triumph over the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center for their third straight win, while improving their mark on the season to 26-33, while moving into sole possession of 8th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

"I felt like the team wanted it more was going to win the game. It's just, the teams are so matched and I felt like for the most part we came out and punched them in the mouth early." said Mo Williams, who finished up with 14 points on 14 assists on the night in the win for Charlotte, which included 9 assists in the first quarter, which was two shy of the mark for assists in a quarter in Charlotte NBA history(Michael Holton had 11 assists in a quarter on 12/1/89), and he also got some help, lots of it from his fellow Hornets teammates, including Al Jefferson and Gerald Henderson, who co-led the Hornets with 19 points, while Marvin Williams added in 18, not to mention Cody Zeller adding in 13 off the bench.

On the night, Charlotte would finish the game shooting 49.4% from the field overall, and the even out-rebounded Brooklyn by a plus-11 margin(49-38).

The Nets were led in the loss by Deron Williams, who had 11 points.  The Hornets are off today, and they'll jump back into action tomorrow night at "The Hive" as they welcome in the Toronto Raptors to Time Warner Cable Arena for a 7:00 p.m. start.