How the Charlotte Bobcats Can Make the Playoffs

(Photo by: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

As of Sunday, Charlotte is one game behind Chicago for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. What was once only a fantasy has become a reality, as Larry Brown's Bobcats have won six of 10 and stayed close to the Bulls.

If the Bobcats are to make the playoffs, they must win easy games, such as the one they lost last night to the Indiana Pacers at home. The Pacers had lost five straight, and Charlotte was looking to move into the eighth seed with a win and a Bulls loss at home versus the Western Conference-leading L.A. Lakers. 

Charlotte imploded at Minnesota losing to the lowly Timberwolves last week, before winning three in a row going into Saturday. In the losses to Indiana and Minnesota the Bobcats fail to maintain Larry's standard of good ball movement, a high assist turnover ratio, good looks in the paint and stingy defense on a teams top scorer. 

Charlotte has three winnable games versus Washington, Philly, and New York before difficult tests versus L.A., Boston and Miami. Winning all three is crucial to maintain their offseason dreams. If Charlotte finishes the season with a tied record with Chicago, they own the tiebreaker by winning two of three against Chicago.

Chicago has Washington, Detroit and Miami as their next three games. Chicago could pull away by winning all three and facing a relatively easy remaining schedule. 

Boris Diaw and Gerald Wallace's performance over the next two weeks will determine Charlotte's place in the post-season. At this point Charlotte has about a 25 percent chance of making the playoffs, those odds will evaporate with a couple more losses in winnable games. 

One play and one game could determine the season, hopefully the Minnesota and Indiana games were not the game that defined the season.

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