Boston gets a big road 116-104 win at Charlotte to help playoff chances and hurt Hornets'.
1. PLAYOFFS ON THE BRINK
Charlotte began its final 10-game stretch with head coach Steve Clifford saying he believes the Hornets need to win seven of them to most likely make the playoffs. Charlotte began the night in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings, but only one game behind Brooklyn for the final playoff spot.
However, if what Clifford says is true, then the Hornets (31-42) can only lose two games the rest of the way as Boston (33-41) came to town and made it look rather easy in its win Monday night.
What's doubly worse is that losing to the Celtics, which entered as a half-game ahead of Charlotte, is like losing two games in the standings. The Hornets are now one and a half games behind Boston.
"That was a huge game for us," Hornets point guard Kemba Walker said. "Everybody is pretty upset, but we've got to move on."
The Celtics are playing like a playoff team, having won 10 of their last 16 games. Meanwhile, Charlotte is 3-9 over its last 12.
"Every game for us is like (playing in the NCAA Tournament)," Hornets forward Marvin Williams said. "This is it. We don't have a lot of room for error."
2. MENTAL MISTAKES, NOT EFFORT IS THE ISSUE
Clifford was asked in the postgame press conference how his team could come out so flat for such an important game. The second-year coach was quick to set the record straight.
"If you watch our team night in and night out and watch as many game films as I do, effort is a strength of our team," he said. "I wouldn't say it's effort, it's mistakes. It's the mental toughness. ...
"Sometimes when you struggle to score, it looks like effort is the issue. I think it's detailed, determination, purpose. Our purpose has to be really, really good in order for us to play well."
The night really bothered Marvin Williams, who sat in his locker at least 15 minutes longer than any other player before finally getting in the shower.
He said it's the mental mistakes Clifford described that has him upset.
"We're on the cusp of doing something special and when you let the opportunity to slip away, it's disappointing," he said. "I feel like everybody is engaged with the game, but sometimes we just do the mental mistakes."
3. HORNETS SHORTHANDED AGAIN
With power forward Cody Zeller missing his 11th of the last 12 games with a severe right shoulder sprain and small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist missing his second straight due to a left ankle sprain, the Hornets continue to be depleted as they have been all season.
All told, the Charlotte starters have missed a combined 73 games this season -- Al Jefferson (10), Kidd-Gilchrist (18), Lance Stephenson (14), Walker (20), Zeller (11). At the time Stephenson went down with a pelvic strain in mid-December, he was a starter.
The Zeller situation with his shoulder has been somewhat perplexing since initial MRI results apparently showed no structural damage. Even so, it's been an extremely sore and lingering injury.
Initially Monday afternoon, there was a belief Zeller would be available to play. But as the game approached, he couldn't play.
"I thought he was fine," Clifford said. "He wasn't comfortable at all. He was tight and he said that it hurt him even passing."
Zeller's availability for Wednesday against Detroit won't be known until then.
0 --Number of minutes Hornets guard Lance Stephenson played.
0 -- Number of minutes Hornets center Al Jefferson played in the fourth quarter.
Follow Brett Jensen on Twitter @Brett_Jensen
