Goga Bitadze Rumors

Michael Scotto: Hawks center Jock Landale (high right ankle sprain) will miss at least two weeks against the Knicks in the playoffs. Landale was injured by Magic center Goga Bitadze on April 1. He averaged 10.6 points on 52% from the field and 38% from 3-point range with 5.7 rebounds this season

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Paolo Banchero had 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Orlando Magic beat the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 132-120 on Wednesday for their fourth consecutive victory. Desmond Bane scored 18 points and Franz Wagner added 17 for Orlando (44-36), which moved into seventh place in the tight Eastern Conference standings, one-half game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers (43-36) with two games remaining. Goga Bitadze had 14 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, Tristan da Silva added 12 points, and Jalen Suggs and Jevon Carter finished with 11 apiece. Orlando led by as many as 24 in the third quarter and completed a two-game season sweep against the Wolves. Terrence Shannon Jr. set career highs with five 3-pointers and 33 points for short-handed Minnesota (47-33), which clinched the sixth position in the Western Conference on Tuesday. Jaden McDaniels returned after missing six games with a knee injury and scored 18 points in 19 minutes. Naz Reid had 15 points and Donte DiVincenzo added 12.

Post-Bulletin

Dave McMenamin: Redick added that Marcus Smart is dealing with a right hip issue from the Orlando game as well as the right ankle from the collision with Goga Bitadze. Redick said Smart is also day to day.

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NBA Courtside: Draymond Green on the Luka vs Goga beef: “Goga Bitadze said he would fu*k his whole family up. At some point I can’t stand for that, I got to stand up for myself. Robert Horry goes on the show and brings me up in the conversation. Maybe I think he wanted some attention. So, everybody let’s get give him the attention he deserves. But I don’t know what I had to do with this.” (Via @DraymondShow)

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NBA Official: The technical fouls on Luka Dončić (LAL) and Goga Bitadze (ORL) issued with 1:19 remaining in the 3rd quarter on March 21 have been rescinded upon league office review.

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Bitadze, in a phone interview with ESPN and the Orlando Sentinel, said Doncic cursed at him in Serbian first and Bitadze merely repeated the same curse back to him. "I have all the respect for Luka and what he has done," Bitadze said. "And I really respect everybody's family. Where I come from, it's really sacred and we really respect each other's families, and I would never directly say that. He just said some inappropriate things in the Serbian language, which, I played in Serbia, I understand. "I don't know if he knew I understood what he said. So, I just said it back. And it was nothing towards his family or anybody. His family, I really, truly respect them."

ESPN

When asked to clarify what barbs were volleyed between the two, Bitadze said: "He said something about my mother, which, it's really inappropriate. We don't say that stuff during the game. ... So I just said whatever he told me or [about] my mother [and] said it back." Bitadze added: "It was just in the heat of the moment. I heard what he said, and I felt like I had to respond the same way. So, from my side, if he feels like I said something too much or crossed the line, I apologize as a man. I can take [accountability], but I didn't say anything, but what he said."

ESPN

Khobi Price: Luka Dončić says that Goga Bitadze said that he would "f--k my whole family” in Serbian while Luka was at the FT line, which happened before their double technical fouls.

Twitter

Dave McMenamin: JJ Redick says that Goga Bitadze said something about Luka Doncic’s mom in a language that the referees could not understand, which preceded the double techs that were called. Redick said the Lakers will appeal Doncic’s tech with the league.

Twitter

Dave McMenamin: Luka Doncic is called for a technical foul with 1:19 to go in the 3rd Q, along with Goga Bitadze. If the tech is not rescinded after the game, it will be his 16th and will cost him a one-game suspension when LAL plays in DET on Monday.

Twitter

There was a school of thought that Boston would look to shed salary at the deadline. But the Celtics have been taking the opposite approach recently, looking for ways to improve their roster. As others have noted, the Celtics have talked to teams about deals that would improve their front line. Also worth watching: what happens in Orlando. Goga Bitadze has been a DNP-CD in the past three games. New York had strong interest in Bitadze last offseason. The Knicks have had interest in New Orleans’ Yves Missi. If Orlando makes Bitadze available ahead of the deadline, logic tells you the Knicks would at least check in with the Magic.

SportsNet New York

They’ve already checked in on another Mavericks centre, Daniel Gafford, per a source, while Orlando’s Goga Bitadze and Brooklyn’s Day’Ron Sharpe are other names to monitor. That way, they could see how this group holds up in meaningful games during the spring before reassessing in the off-season, when it’s easier to make significant change.

TSN

They’ve already checked in on another Mavericks centre, Daniel Gafford, per a source, while Orlando’s Goga Bitadze and Brooklyn’s Day’Ron Sharpe are other names to monitor. That way, they could see how this group holds up in meaningful games during the spring before reassessing in the off-season, when it’s easier to make significant change. But that’s the Ujiri playbook. Sources within MLSE insist that Webster has full autonomy and is under no pressure to take a big swing in his first at-bat. But in declining to elevate him to the president’s role and dangling the title over his head like a carrot, this was always going to be a make-or-break season for Toronto’s GM, as well as several others on his staff and in the organization.

TSN

Jorge Sierra: You’re a former Mega Basket player. What do you think is the key to the success of players from that team in the NBA? Goga Bitadze: Yeah, it was definitely (agent) Misko Raznatovic and Dejan Milojevic, who passed away. That was the key. Dejan, Nikola Jokic, Ivica Zubac, so many more. Changed so many people's lives including me and that was the key. It was a lot of hard work a lot of dedication from them, from us, and that's why they're so successful.

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