{"id":642247,"date":"2026-03-06T02:50:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T02:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/642247\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T02:50:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T02:50:55","slug":"southeast-notes-hornets-bitadze-t-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/642247\/","title":{"rendered":"Southeast Notes: Hornets, Bitadze, T. Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

Head coach Charles Lee had a simple explanation for why the red-hot Hornets have been the best team in the NBA since January 22, writes Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer<\/a>. The Hornets have gone 16-3 since that date and have won six straight games, with each of those victories coming by at least 16 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been cool to have a healthy roster,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThat has definitely played into some of the shifts that we\u2019ve had going along. But I think that our guys have just embraced the process even more. It started in the offseason, I thought everyone elevated their work habits, their work standards, their togetherness of how we can elevate each other. We\u2019ve gotten stronger through all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charlotte\u2019s latest victory was one of its most impressive of the season. Playing on the second night of a home-road back-to-back, the Hornets dominated the 41-21 Celtics in Boston, winning by 29 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are a great team, we also believe we are a great team,\u201d starting center Moussa Diabate<\/a> said, per Boone. \u201cAt the end of the day, we are not trying to focus too much on them. Obviously we want to win the game but it\u2019s going to take care of itself if we focus on what we have to do. For us, it\u2019s a great thing, it\u2019s a great message to the league as well \u2014 understand that the Hornets are here.\u201d<\/p>\n

We have more from around the Southeast Division:<\/p>\n

The Hornets were 4-14 at one point, but they are now over .500 (32-31) in March for the first time since 2021\/22, notes James Jackson of The Athletic<\/a>. Prior to that campaign, when Charlotte finished 43-39, the last time the team was over .500 this late in the season was \u201915\/16, which is the last time the Hornets made the playoffs. A prolonged stretch of strong play is proof that Charlotte is no longer rebuilding and the team\u2019s young core looks promising for years to come, Jackson adds.
\nReserve center Goga Bitadze<\/a> had been out of the Magic\u2018s rotation in recent weeks, only making one appearance over the team\u2019s last nine games heading into Tuesday. However, with Wendell Carter Jr.<\/a> sidelined due to a left ankle injury, Bitadze was placed into the starting lineup against Washington and the Georgian big man delivered nine points, six rebounds, two assists and a block in 21 minutes, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel<\/a>. \u201cGoga\u2019s the best,\u201d Jalen Suggs<\/a> said about Bitadze. \u201cHe\u2019s just in the right spots, sets good screens, rolls (and) has so much gravity when he rolls. And then he\u2019s always behind you ready to block a shot. So, shoutout to Goga (for) staying ready.\u201d
\nTrae Young<\/a> was on a restriction of approximately 17-to-20 minutes on Thursday in his Wizards debut, head coach Brian Keefe said before the game (Twitter<\/a> links<\/a> via Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network). \u201cI think our guys are going to enjoy playing with him and I think he\u2019s going to enjoy playing with our guys because they\u2019re similar in mindset,\u201d Keefe said. \u201cIt\u2019s just another step on our process\u2026 and someone who\u2019s going to help us get better.\u201d The four-time All-Star point guard finished with 12 points, six assists, two rebounds and two steals in 19 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Head coach Charles Lee had a simple explanation for why the red-hot Hornets have been the best team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3777],"tags":[7,684,473,3878,875,685,461,6357,6,494],"class_list":{"0":"post-642247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-charlotte-hornets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-charlotte","10":"tag-charlotte-hornets","11":"tag-charlottehornets","12":"tag-goga-bitadze","13":"tag-hornets","14":"tag-jalen-suggs","15":"tag-moussa-diabate","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-trae-young"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116179964907613925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}