{"id":662652,"date":"2026-03-17T10:44:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/662652\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T10:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T10:44:21","slug":"the-southeast-got-hot-with-hawks-magic-heat-and-hornets-all-surging-as-playoff-chase-intensifies-national-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/662652\/","title":{"rendered":"The Southeast got hot, with Hawks, Magic, Heat and Hornets all surging as playoff chase intensifies | National Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Atlanta is on a <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/magic-hawks-score-aaf562e8293880da6b66a1feb6a63306\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">10-game winning streak,<\/a> its best stretch in more than 11 years. Orlando and Miami just ran off seven straight victories. Charlotte might be playoff-bound for the first time in a decade.<\/p>\n<p>The Southeast Division is &#8230; good?<\/p>\n<p>kAm$66&gt;D D@] pE =62DE[ :EVD ?@E 9:DE@C:42==J 325 2D H2D E96 42D6 =2DE D62D@? H96? E96 w2H3:?65 7@C E96 H@CDE C64@C5 3J 2?J 5:G:D:@? \ud83d\ude15 }qp 9:DE@CJ] p?5 :EVD A@DD:3=6 E96 5:G:D:@? 4@F=5 D6?5 7@FC E62&gt;D E@ E96 A=2J@77D 7@C E96 7:CDE E:&gt;6 D:?46 a_`c]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAms:G:D:@? C246D 2?5 492&gt;A:@?D9:AD 5@?VE &gt;62? &gt;F49 2?J&gt;@C6 2?5 92G6?VE 7@C D@&gt;6 E:&gt;6] qFE E96 7@FC $@FE962DE E62&gt;D \ud83d\ude15 E96 &gt;:I H:E9 A=2J@77 9@A6D \u2014 6G6CJ3@5J 3FE (2D9:?8E@? \u2014 DFC6 D66&gt; 2D E9@F89 E96J 2C6 7665:?8 @77 @?6 2?@E96C 2?5 92G6 366? D:?46 E96 p==\\$E2C 3C62&lt;]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm\u201cx H@F=5 D2J E92E\u2019D AC@323=J 2 724E@C[\u201d w62E 4@249 tC:&lt; $A@6=DEC2 D2:5] \u201ctG6CJ3@5J 2=D@ @HD H92E E:&gt;6 :E \ud83d\ude00 C:89E ?@H] *@F 92G6 E@ &gt;2&lt;6 &gt;@G6D] *@F 92G6 E@ 5@ D@&gt;6E9:?8] p?5 H6 6H E92E 4@&gt;:?8 @FE @7 p==\\$E2C 3C62&lt;]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAmtG6CJ@?6 8@E E96 &gt;6DD286] |@DE 6G6CJ@?6[ E92E :D]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm%96 (:K2C5D D66&gt; E@ 92G6 ?@ :?E6C6DE \ud83d\ude15 H:??:?8 C:89E ?@H[ AC@G6? 3J E96 H2J E96J A=2J65 5676?D6 \u2014 @C ?@E \u2014 282:?DE k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^2CE:4=6^962E\\32&gt;\\25632J@\\gb\\A@:?ED\\`_`ce3_gdd7d3g7be2dg7a6da3af7ha_Qm|:2&gt;:\u2019D q2&gt; p5632J@ \ud83d\ude15 9:D gb\\A@:?E 82&gt;6k^2m =2DE H66&lt;] %96J\u2019== DE2CE 2?6H ?6IE J62C[ E96J 9@A6[ H:E9 k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^2CE:4=6^EC26\\J@F?8\\EC256\\92H^2CE:4=6^H:K2C5D\\&gt;2G6C:4<\/p>\n<p>kAm~E96CH:D6[ E96 5:G:D:@? \ud83d\ude00 C@==:?8] %96 7:G6 E62&gt;D 2C6 2 4@&gt;3:?65 c_\\ad D:?46 E96 3C62&lt;[ E96 36DE &gt;2C&lt; 3J 2?J 5:G:D:@? \ud83d\ude15 E96 }qp 5FC:?8 E92E DEC6E49] pE=2?E2 \ud83d\ude00 &#8220;\\`[ |:2&gt;: 92D 8@?6 h\\b[ ~C=2?5@ \ud83d\ude00 `_\\c[ r92C=@EE6 \ud83d\ude00 g\\d 2?5 (2D9:?8E@? \ud83d\ude00 a\\`a]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm%9:D \ud83d\ude00 9@H 8@@5 E96 $@FE962DE 92D 366? \ud83d\ude15 C646?E H66: @? u63] a_] %96 w2H6 8@:?8 :?E@ |@?52J ?:89E \u2014 2?5 H6C6 DE:== ?:?E9 \ud83d\ude15 E96 t2DE]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm|@?52JVD H:? 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E96 |28:4 D66&gt;65 E@ 36 \ud83d\ude15 EC@F3=6 6G6CJE9:?8 DE2CE65 E@ H@C&lt;]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm\u201c(6VC6 3@E9 4@&gt;A6E:E@CD[\u201d q2?496C@ D2:5 H96? 2D&lt;65 23@FE 9:D C6=2E:@?D9:A H:E9 |@D=6J] \u201c%96C6 H6C6 E:&gt;6D H96C6 x H2D 7CFDEC2E65 2?5 x H2D?VE A=2J:?8 2D H6== 2D x E9:?&lt; x D9@F=5 36] qFE :E ?6G6C 3642&gt;6 &gt;6 A@:?E:?8 E96 7:?86C 2E 9:&gt; @C 36:?8 5:DC6DA64E7F=] xE H2D 2== 4@?DECF4E:G6j 96\u2019D E2=&lt;:?8 E@ &gt;6[ x\u2019&gt; E2=&lt;:?8 E@ 9:&gt;] p?5 H:??:?8[ :E 4FC6D 6G6CJE9:?8] ]]] $@&gt;6E9:?8 x 766= x =62C?65 2E sF&lt;6 \ud83d\ude00 H96? E96C6\u2019D 2 =:EE=6 3:E @7 4@?7=:4E[ :E &gt;2&lt;6D J@F =@4&lt; \ud83d\ude15 2 =:EE=6 &gt;@C6]Qk^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm{6DD E92? 2 &gt;@?E9 C6&gt;2:?D \ud83d\ude15 E96 C68F=2C D62D@?] %96 ;@DE=:?8 36EH66? E96 w2H:89E ?@E 92G6 2 3@?2 7:56[ 42?VE\\&gt;:DD[ E:E=6 72G@C:E6 \ud83d\ude15 E92E 8C@FA \u2014 3FE :E 5@6D 92G6 7@FC E62&gt;D E92E 4@F=5 36 9:EE:?8 E96:C 36DE DEC:56 2E E96 C:89E E:&gt;6]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm\u201cxEVD ;FDE E9:D E:&gt;6 @7 J62C[\u201d |@D=6J D2:5] \u201ctG6CJ 82&gt;6 &gt;2EE6CD]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n<p>k9C ^m<\/p>\n<p>kAmpC@F?5 %96 }qp 2?2=JK6D E96 3:886DE E@A:4D \ud83d\ude15 E96 }qp 5FC:?8 E96 D62D@?]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>k9C ^m<\/p>\n<p>kAmp! }qpi k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^9F3^?32Qm9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^9F3^?32k^2mk^Am<\/p>\n<p>        &#13;<br \/>\n                                &#13;<\/p>\n<p>        &#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<br \/>\n                                &#13;<br \/>\n                            &#13;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Atlanta is on a 10-game winning streak, its best stretch in more than 11 years.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3777],"tags":[7,684,473,3878,685,6,446,85100,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-662652","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-hornets","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nba-basketball","15":"tag-nba-hawks-magic-heat-hornets","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116244110803816428","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662652","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=662652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}