The Hornets Had the Score of Their 27-Point Loss in Last Year's Play-In Game Posted in Their Practice Facility All Season Only to Lose This Year by 29

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Let this serve as the primary example for why you don't get cute with motivational messages. The Charlotte Hornets have looked at a score of their 144-117 loss to the Indiana Pacers in last season's NBA Play-In Tournament every day for a year in their practice facility, only to lose this season 132-103 to the Atlanta Hawks at the same stage.

So now what do they do? If they want to be ideologically consistent, they have to replace it with their latest failure and look at this one for a year. If the team doesn't put the score up, the players will then just be thinking about why it isn't there. One way or another, a constant reminder of two consecutive embarrassing failures will loom.

You just hate to see it, really. The Hornets thought the constant reminder of a 27-point drubbing would motivate the team to make sure that wouldn't happen again, but it turned out it actually just made them want to break their own record for play-in game margin of defeat. I guess one thing you can't call them is inconsistent.

If you're a Miami Heat fan — or any other Eastern Conference team, for that matter — you better be praying the Cleveland Cavaliers take care of the Hawks tomorrow night. Y'all do not want to see Trae Young get back into the playoffs.