Michael Jordan might not be able to come up with a 12 foot trophy in time for the final two games of the season (it’d be great if he even bothers to show up to either game), but it doesn’t matter.

The Bobcats are playing these final two games against the Magic and Knicks for something much larger; If they can’t pull out a win before the season is over, they will go down as the worst team in the history of the NBA.

Charlotte already beat their two remaining opponents, but that probably doesn’t matter, because the only team that has more than one loss to the Bobcats this year is Toronto.

The last time they faced Orlando, the Bobcats won by 16 on 29 points from the oft-injured Corey Maggette and a near triple-double from Bismack Biyombo, who outplayed Dwight Howard.

Maggette and Howard are done for the year, but Biyombo is healthy. He’ll have to bring his A+++ game if Charlotte is going to win this one.

Orlando has lost three in a row, and without Howard, they’re vulnerable inside and on the boards.

In its last game against Denver, the Magic got outscored 64-24 in the paint and lost the rebounding battle by 10.

The Bobcats aren’t very good in either of those statistics, but they should be starting points in their game plan tonight.

If the Charlotte wins tonight and the Magic lose on Thursday at Memphis,  the Knicks could move up to the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference by winning their final two games vs the Clippers and at the Bobcats.

With so much at stake in the Bobcats final two games (avoiding the “worst team ever” moniker and holding the first round match-up fate of two teams in the collective palm of their hand) it shouldn’t take much for Charlotte to get pumped up these next two nights.

If they still need some motivation, though, maybe a trophy isn’t that bad of an idea.

Because if Charlotte can’t win one of their last two games, “in the anals of history, people are going to be talking about three things: The discovery of fire, invention of the submarine” and how horrible the Bobcats were this year.

 Credit: Paul Abell-US PRESSWIRE

With three games left in the regular season, Charlotte has the opportunity to effect the Eastern Conference playoffs in a significant way.

After their match-up with the Washington Wizards tonight, the Bobcats play two teams fighting to stay out of a first round series with the Heat.

If the New York Knicks win out, and the Orlando Magic lose out, the ‘Bockers will get the sixth seed and push the Dwight Howard-less Magic into a dreaded first round slot against Miami.

All the Magic need to do to avoid that fate is win one of their final two games verses the Bobcats or at the Memphis Grizzlies (I think the game they’ve circled is obvious).

The Knicks also get the Bobcats; On the last day of the season, on TNT, while Orlando simultaneously battles Memphis. Should the Knicks beat the Clippers and the Bobcats knock off Orlando on Wednesday, that Thursday night game could be one of the most important contests of the waning NBA season… And Charlotte would be a part of it.

For what it’s worth, the ‘Cats have already defeated both Orlando and New York, by 16 in March and eight in January respectively.

If the Bobcats manage to beat either of them again this week, they would assure themselves of not becoming the worst team in NBA history. Also, they still have a chance to go on a winning streak this year, and as impossible as it sounds, they can still finish the season with double digit wins.

Modest goals, I know, but in a season as putrid as Charlotte’s, any goal reached is a positive one.

It all starts tonight, though, when Charlotte tries to shake itself of this disgusting 20 game losing streak. The last time the ‘Cats and DC met up, Washington obliterated the Bobcats, 113-85.