By most accounts, a winning preseason record bodes well in the NBA.

But to the Charlotte Hornets, who open their regular-season schedule Wednesday at home against Cleveland, it only means another week of work and improvement.

"Preseason?s preseason," said forward P.J. Brown, whose team finished the preseason with a 5-3 record Tuesday following a 91-79 victory over Atlanta.

"You can?t really gauge the regular season on that. And we don?t really know where we?re at because of all the injuries we?ve had. So this is a very big week for us to get to play together and learn each other more."

Today, at least, the Hornets can enjoy a franchise-best preseason mark ? Charlotte also went 5-3 in 1990 and 1999.