For a long time, Knicks-Hornets was among the most lifeless “rivalries” of any two Eastern Conference squads.

Those days are no longer.

Tonight, New York and Charlotte will square off in what is indisputably the most meaningful matchup between these two teams in the 21st century. The last time these teams met this late in the season with winning records on each side was April 9, 2001.

The Hornets are trying to push their way from a play-in berth to the coveted sixth seed, which they trail by only two games after being as far as eight games back in mid-January. The Knicks can clinch a playoff spot and move back into a virtual tie for the East’s second seed.

Not only that, but these are two of the most threatening contenders to win the Eastern Conference.

Yes, you read that right: two of the most threatening contenders.

Since the calendar flipped to 2026, the Hornets have the NBA’s best net rating (+11.5) and fourth-best record (27-12). Even if you include their cold start through December, they still have the fourth-best net rating in the East across the entire season.

They may be in 9th place right now, but the Hornets are arguably the fourth-greatest threat to win the Eastern Conference. That is how dominant they have been over a stretch that has nearly reached three full months.

It gives the Knicks a golden opportunity to make a statement after their recent run of ugly wins over lowly squads.

But if they’re going to pull it off, they must emphasize these three boxes in their game plan.

1. Crash the glass hard on both ends

The Hornets have become best known for their electric outside shooting. But you don’t post the league’s best net rating over three months because of shooting alone.

Charlotte has blossomed into a complete basketball team, and a big part of that all-around dominance is their success on the glass at both ends of the court.

Since Jan. 1, the Hornets lead the NBA in rebounding percentage at 55%. They are second offensively (36.8%) and third defensively (72.9%).

The Knicks are ready for the battle, as they rank fourth in rebounding percentage over the same span (53.0%). That’s with Mitchell Robinson missing eight games.

Now, the Knicks’ un-box-out-able behemoth is finally settling into a consistent role, as Robinson enters Thursday night having played in a season-high seven consecutive games. Not only did the Knicks go 7-0 over that span, but they also grabbed 55.7% of available rebounds.

A huge part of the Hornets’ formula is to simply out-math teams. Since Jan. 1, they are taking a whopping 7.9 more threes per game than their opponents (44.2 vs. 36.3), the second-largest margin in the NBA. Since they’ve made an unfathomable 39.6% of those 44.2 attempts per game, Charlotte is a downright math problem.

The best way to solve it is to narrow the attempt margin. That’s where the rebounding comes in.

Losing the possession battle is never more dangerous than against a team that can shoot the three-ball like Charlotte can. You can get away with a possession disadvantage against teams that turn misses into twos, but if you consistently allow forced misses to turn into threes, you will be in for a long night.

Winning the rebounding battle, especially on defense, is paramount for New York tonight.

What gives the Knicks confidence to invest in a rebound-first strategy is that Charlotte is not much of a threat to punish New York in transition. So, the Knicks don’t have to worry about the ways that crashing the glass affects the transition game.

The Hornets rank fourth-worst in transition points per game (20.0). It’s not a big part of their offense. This means the Knicks can comfortably crash the offensive glass without worrying too much about Charlotte getting behind them.

On the other end, the Knicks can focus on defensive rebounding because the Hornets’ transition defense isn’t their primary weakness, anyway.

Charlotte ranks ninth-best with only 23.0 points per game allowed in transition, which means most of the damage they allow is in the half-court. That’s perfectly fine for an older Knicks team that prefers to operate in the half-court as it is, so they can comfortably emphasize the defensive glass without being too concerned about sacrificing transition leak-outs.

Crash. The. Glass.

If the Hornets are going to hit 40% of their threes, make sure it’s with them taking the same quantity as you, not with them taking 10 more.

2. Attack the switches off pick-and-rolls

As much as we can talk about Charlotte’s offense, it is just as difficult to find weaknesses in their defense. They have the sixth-best defensive rating since Jan. 1 (109.4).

One rare hole in the Hornets’ defense is their susceptibility to allowing points off switches. They rank fourth-worst in the NBA with 16.6 points per game allowed to pick-and-roll ball handlers, and the big men are mostly responsible for that.

Centers Ryan Kalkbenner (6.7 points per game) and Moussa Diabate (5.7 points per game) have combined to allow 12.4 points per game as the primary defenders against pick-and-roll ball handlers.

Another target should be power forward Miles Bridges. While Bridges has not defended these plays at the same volume as Kalkbrenner or Diabate, he has been much worse in terms of efficiency. Bridges is allowing 1.05 points per possession against pick-and-roll ball handlers, which ranks in the 9th percentile league-wide.

The Knicks should emphasize setting high ball screens for their playmakers, namely Jalen Brunson and Jordan Clarkson, so they can cook in space against these exploitable bigs.

The Brunson vs. Bridges matchup is particularly appealing. In two games this year, Brunson has scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting (2 for 3 from the line) across just 16 possessions against Bridges, including zero turnovers.

Bridges simply doesn’t have the quickness to stay in front of Brunson.

3. Go after Kon Knueppel in the post

Rookie phenom Kon Knueppel is taking the league by storm with his outside shooting, but he can be had on the defensive end.

In particular, the Knicks must run sets that are designed to get Knueppel in the post.

As a post-up defender, Knueppel is allowing an abominable 1.34 points per possession. Only Franz Wagner is worse among players who have defended at least as many post-ups per game.

Put in a more astonishing way, Knueppel allows his man to score on 67.9% of post-up possessions. That’s not a 67.9% shooting percentage; it means Knueppel allows points on 67.9% of these possessions. Only Sacramento’s Keegan Murray is worse among qualifiers.

Basically, calling a post-up on Knueppel is as close to an automatic bucket as you can ask for. The Knicks are built to exploit this weakness, as they have plenty of capable post-up weapons on offense.

Mike Brown would be wise to set the tone early by finding ways to get Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, or Jalen Brunson into a post-up situation against Knueppel. Ideally, it leads to multiple early baskets, forcing Charlotte to make adjustments that can open up New York’s offense for the rest of the night.