The New Orleans Hornets won their season finale to finish at 41-41 for the year. Not only did this leave them a game behind Miami(42-40), the 4th seed who they'll face in the opening round, but pushed them past Milwaukee for 3rd place in the Central Division and 5th seed in the East. This is important because the Heat are far less imposing than the Detroit Pistons, who won 10 more games than them, so the Hornets have a far better chance of advancing to the 2nd round to likely face the Indiana Pacers. The win was also significant because it gave the Hornets a winning record for the 12th consecutive year. The Hornets still missed the playoffs in three of those years despite their winning record, but the feat is amazing nevertheless. Their records during that time: '93= 44-38 '94= 41-41 '95= 50-32 '96= 41-41 '97= 54-28 '98= 51-31 '99= 26-24 '00= 49-33 '01= 46-36 '02= 44-38 '03= 47-35 '04= 41-41 Though the Hornets never managed to win a division title, they are the only Central Division team to maintain a winning record each year through those twelve seasons. Each of the five different division winners during that period(Chicago, Atlanta, Indiana, Milwaukee, Detroit) suffered through dismal seasons as well. And only the Pacers made the playoffs more times during the streak(11) than did the Hornets(9).
