Checklist for Charlotte Hornets During Season's Home Stretch

The once-laughable bottom of the Eastern Conference has surprisingly improved over the past few weeks. It is good for preventing the East from being the West's embarrassing younger brother, but it spells danger for the Charlotte Hornets' playoff hopes.

One man who has pulled his own weight is Mo Williams, the veteran point guard who was recently brought into town in exchange for Gary Neal from the Minnesota Timberwolves. But he needs help.

The Hornets are unexpectedly falling apart, and things have got to change quickly.

Charlotte was sitting pretty at No. 7 at the All-Star break but now finds itself way down in 11th. More surprising than the Hornets' newest five-game losing streak is the resurgence of their Eastern Conference adversaries.

The Miami Heat made a titanic move at the deadline by swinging a deal for Goran Dragic from the Phoenix Suns. The Boston Celtics snagged Isaiah Thomas from the Suns as well.

The Brooklyn Nets swapped Kevin Garnett for Thaddeus Young from the Timberwolves and also shockingly held onto Brook Lopez. The Detroit Pistons hauled in Reggie Jackson from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Indiana Pacers have somehow risen from the dead like The Undertaker.

Charlotte threw the first punch. The rest of the East threw a big countershot with that flurry of deadline moves. Do the Hornets have a knockout blow in them?

These are the tasks for the Charlotte Hornets to focus on down the home stretch to ensure they are not sitting on their couches once 82 games are up.

Unleash P.J. Hairston

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P.J. Hairston has played one game in February and logged 16 points in one of his best outputs of the year. Something doesn't add up.

On February 10, Charlotte squared off with the Detroit Pistons and got blown out 106-78. Maybe the only bright spot on that morbid evening was the 16 points and four threes the Hornets got from rookie P.J. Hairston.

Granted, Hairston's numbers are indefensibly awful thus far in his first NBA season. He is shooting 32.1 percent from the floor, though he has shown some spotty rebounding and defensive potential.

With the elevator falling down the shaft, the Hornets need to start smashing that panic button. They have the worst shooting bench in the NBA at 39.6 percent. Alleviating that problem with a struggling rookie may seem insane, but here is a stat for you.

Hairston is shooting 41.4 percent from downtown in games where he has played 20 minutes or more. He converts just 26.8 percent of those attempts when he sees less than that amount of time. That tells you all you need to know about how much being glued to the bench has affected him.

Lance Stephenson brought his body to Charlotte but left his talents in Indiana this past offseason. He is scoring 7.0 points per game in February on 32 percent shooting. Gerald Henderson has come back down to earth as well. Mo Williams could provide a spark off the bench, but he has to start for the time being with Kemba Walker injured.

The Hornets need a jolt, and Hairston is the man to provide it. With the season slipping away, it is time for Steve Clifford to think way outside the box.

Get Back to Playing Defense

Associated Press

Charlotte's identity as a defensive team is unmistakeable. The ability to hold teams under 100 points has escaped the Hornets recently.

The Hornets' blueprint for winning games is simple: just hold the other team under 100 points.

It sounds simple, but if it were, every team would play that way. The Hornets are 27th in the league in scoring but fifth in defense by allowing just 97 points a night.

The problem is that defense often escapes this team, which is the reason this campaign has been so up and down. Charlotte hasn't been able to sustain anything positive for longer than 10 games or so at any point in 2014-15.

During the recent five-game skid, big men and point guards have done most, if not all, of the damage. This squad is basically getting roasted by everyone who isn't being defended by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Gerald Henderson.

Over the last five games alone, the performances that Charlotte's opponents have gotten from those two spots on the court have been eye-opening.

• Dallas Mavericks: 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting from Tyson Chandler.
• Oklahoma City Thunder: 33 points and 10 assists from Russell Westbrook, 10 points and 13 rebounds from Enes Kanter, 16 points and 12 rebounds from Serge Ibaka.
• Detroit Pistons: 23 and 12 from Greg Monroe.
• Indiana Pacers: 15 and 14 from Luis Scola, as well as 22 points and five threes from C.J. Watson off the pine.

Cody Zeller and the rest of the big men are not only struggling on offense, but it is carrying over to the defensive end of the floor as well. That is not Charlotte Hornets basketball.

Get Al Jefferson Going

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Is Al Jefferson's foot injury at the end of last year still holding him back, or are all those minutes just catching up to him? Can he get it going?

When you think about it, this swoon from the Hornets likely would have happened last year as well if Al Jefferson hadn't morphed into 1962 Wilt Chamberlain in the second half.

That hasn't happened this time around, and it likely won't. Regardless, Charlotte still needs more from its centerpiece. His 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds from last year's second half are probably unattainable, but his 16.4 points on 44.9 percent from the floor are not going to get it done.

As soon as Walker went down, all eyes turned to Jefferson. The problem is that he isn't the same force he was last season. Charlotte doesn't revolve as much around its big man as it has in the past, which is a big reason why it is 22-32.

Twenty-four points and 11 rebounds isn't realistic, but 20/10 still is for Jefferson. Charlotte needs to feed him incessantly because that is the only way this offense runs.

He needs to get at least hot enough to at least command double-teams and open up driving lanes and outside shots. Charlotte is last in the league in field-goal percentage for the month of February at 40.9 percent, and it needs to go back to the well for some easy buckets.

The Hornets don't have enough weapons to wean themselves off the big man just yet. They still need to feed him every opportunity they can. The playoffs aren't happening unless Jefferson emphatically leads them there.

Run, Run, Run

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Charlotte has far too much athleticism to be so neglectful of the transition game.

Hornets fans everywhere have to be begging for this. It is perfectly fine to be a slow-paced, grind-it-out style of basketball team, but if you aren't converting on offense, you are putting a ton of pressure on the defensive side of the ball.

Charlotte is last in the NBA in fast-break points, netting just 8.5 per game. Playing stout defense is no excuse for such a stat, either.

The Memphis Grizzlies are probably the most comparable squad to the Hornets in terms of style, and even their stable of gritty veterans manages to get out for 11.6 a night. Heck, the Golden State Warriors have the league's top defense and are quite literally running away with the fast-break title at 21.1 on average.

This team is loaded with athletes. Charlotte completely neglects the opportunity to get out and run. A break led by Mo Williams or Kemba Walker with some combination of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Lance Stephenson and Gerald Henderson streaking on the wings and Cody Zeller as the trailer would be a nightmare for the opposition. All can run. All can make plays above the rim. Make it happen.

Part of the reason Charlotte doesn't run is because it plays fundamental defense. Clifford's crew does not sell out to force turnovers. The Hornets hunt rebounds more than steals and blocks, which is fine except for the fact that they never leak out on the break.

The lack of a transition game is just another of Charlotte's blatantly obvious flaws that is somewhat correctable. To avoid continuing on this stagnant path, the Hornets need to shake it up. There is no better way to do that than to try running teams out of the gym.

Spread the Wealth

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This whole team needs to take a long look at Mo Williams and try to emulate some of his characteristics.

The other big hole in the offense is the lack of ball movement. Charlotte's half-court offense (the only kind it has) rarely features more than a couple of passes. The team's grinding pace also factors into this.

Too frequently we see one player trying to create for the other four. Charlotte is 25th in the NBA in assists at 20.5 per game, which is particularly troubling due to the amount of able passers on this team.

Mo Williams has reinvented himself a bit this season, posting 6.4 assists a game, his most since 2010-11 and the second-highest mark of his career. Gerald Henderson has also taken on some of the distributing role since Walker's injury, posting 6.2 over his last five games. Stephenson may not be able to hit water from a diving board at this point, but he is still posting 4.9 assists for the season.

Cody Zeller can pass. Brian Roberts can certainly pass. Big Al has become very adept at passing out of double-teams in recent years. Even MKG and his newly found offensive swagger can drop a dime or two.

The point is, as a unit, the ball doesn't get swung around. There are no quick, decisive moves being made by anyone, and this is why Mo Williams was such a crucial acquisition. He knows when to push it and when to pump the brakes. He wants everyone to get involved, which could once again start by running the break.

Combined with the slow pace and the inefficient half-court play, ball-stopping makes this offense feel like it just needs a can of WD-40 poured on it. It isn't loose. It doesn't flow. Worst of all, it isn't fun.

This should be Charlotte's biggest target for improvement down the stretch because many of the other problems would be solved simply by having fun and getting everyone involved. Ball movement builds cohesion and chemistry, and the Hornets need a heavy dose of it to avoid missing out on playoff basketball.