Every NBA team’s greatest playoff moment

CHICAGO - JUNE 7: Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls matches up against Karl Malone #32 of the Utah Jazz in Game Three of the 1998 NBA Finals at the United Center on June 5, 1998 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls won 96-54. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1998 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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Charlotte Hornets: Zo wins first-ever series (1993 Eastern Conference First Round, Game 4)

Figuring out the greatest playoff moment for the Charlotte Hornets is a decidedly simple task. For Hornets fans, though, the ease is for depressing reasons. Whether it was as the iconic Hornets of the early 90s, the dismal Bobcats or the newly revamped Buzz City, there hasn’t been a whole lot of playoff success to speak of. In any form or iteration, the Hornets haven’t made it past the Eastern Conference Semifinals in franchise history. What’s more, they’ve only made it out of the First Round four times.

Thus, it’s easy to point to the first playoff series win in franchise history as the greatest moment. The good news, though, is that it involved inarguably the most exciting version of the Hornets and had some great singular moments on top of that, specifically Alonzo Mourning effectively winning the series against the Boston Celtics in Game 4.

Armed with the young and exciting trio of Mourning, Larry Johnson and Kendall Gill, the Hornets dropped Game 1 of the series to the Celtics in Boston. However, they clawed their way to a one-point victory in Game 2 to steal one on the road and then the series never went back to New England.

Throughout the series, the presence of Mourning and Johnson on the interior was the decisive factor. Though the Celtics still had Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, they were shells of their former selves by that point. Thus, the athleticism and explosiveness of Mourning and Johnson was too much for Boston to handle. And in Game 4, it was Mourning that pushed them through.

Down by one in the final seconds, Larry Johnson missed a tough jumper that resulted in a loose ball going out of bounds off the Celtics with 3.3 seconds left. On the inbounds play, Mourning flashed to the top of the key and was left open for a long jumper, which he drilled to go up by one. With 0.4 seconds remaining, Boston had one last heave at the rim to try and tip in a winner, but it was swatted away to give Charlotte that elusive first playoff victory.

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