The reason the Hornets added Kelly Oubre, Montrezl Harrell and Isaiah Thomas has arrived

Kelly Oubre knows all too well about that empty feeling the Charlotte Hornets went through a year ago.

Prior to arriving as a free agent this past offseason, Oubre spent a year with Golden State and the Warriors were among the eight teams featured in the inaugural play-in tournament in May. Golden State entered the tournament as the eighth seed and needed to win at least one game to solidify a spot in the main playoff field. It never happened.

Not only did the Warriors lose to the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State couldn’t beat ninth-seeded Memphis, either. They were left out of the postseason field just like the Hornets, and now Oubre plans on doing what he can to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

He’s hoping to help push the 10th-seeded Hornets past No. 9 Atlanta in their play-in tournament matchup at State Farm Arena on Wednesday. The winner moves on to play the loser of Tuesday night’s game between No. 7 Brooklyn and No. 8 Cleveland.

“Man, it’s a different scenario,” Oubre told The Charlotte Observer after practice Tuesday. “It’s a different game that we are playing now. But it’s also a blessing for teams that didn’t make it right out to have a chance to and an opportunity to actually make the playoffs. Because back in the day, the seventh and eighth seed might not have been better than the ninth or 10th. Or they just had a better record or they did their work earlier in the season.

“But for us, we’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity. No matter what we’ve got to handle the game in front of us.”

Oubre is one of the four players Charlotte brought on board who have some much-needed knowledge about the intricacies of the postseason and the increased intensity level. The Hornets were thin in that area in 2020-21 and that didn’t aid matters when they got behind early and never caught up to Indiana in last year’s play-in game.

Having Oubre, along with Montezl Harrell, Mason Plumlee and Isaiah Thomas, adds a combined 127 games of playoff experience to a young core led by LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges.

“Yeah, we’ll rely on all of them,” coach James Borrego said. “I think that all three of those guys have been big for us as far as our growth this year. Just stabilizing us. Allowing the guys to feel comfortable and confident out there on the floor. Just their voice, their presence alone is going to be big for us (Wednesday) night.

“So I.T. has been great for Melo, Trez has been here before. I don’t think there is going to be a deer-in-headlights. And I think a big part of it is those veterans are going to help us get there. And our young guys are ready for this moment as well.”

Plumlee has logged more playoff time than any of the quartet, racking up 60 career postseason games. He’s understated, yet also keenly aware of the implications of every possession.

“It’s kind of a privilege and it’s something you work for all year,” Plumlee said. “Just take advantage of it. There shouldn’t be added pressure. You should just go play free and enjoy the moment. We’ve played in big games this year. Obviously not playoff games. But we’ve been in some big ones, so this just feels like one of those.”

Harrell was with the Lakers last season, witnessing them take down the Warriors. He’s been on the floor for 30 playoff games and is delivering a subtle message to the younger Hornets to keep them centered on the difficult task of knocking off Trae Young and the Hawks.

“I think the main focus for the guys is to not overthink things,” Harrell said. “We are going into the game with a game plan of what we want to kind of take them out of and what we want to execute on our end. But I think the biggest thing is not overthinking things and not worrying.

“Yes, this is a very important game. But every game has been important this year, especially closing out how we were. It’s about staying in the moment. This is like looking at it like the NCAA tournament. Some guys have been there, some guys watched it. But this is win one game or you’re gone.”

The Hornets hope it’s the former and they’ll have their answer Wednesday night.

“It can be done,” Oubre said. “That’s my talk track. But at the end of the day, my actions have to speak louder. I’ve been playing all season long and now is time. We’ve been practicing, we’ve been working to the point to play in the postseason and we had to get there. But we have to remain humble and confident and hungry.”