Charles Lee explains why the Hornets have struggled against the Wizards this season

Some insight on Monday's loss to Washington.
Feb 3, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee  during the first half against the Washington Wizards at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
Feb 3, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee during the first half against the Washington Wizards at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
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For whatever reason, the Washington Wizards' eyes light up when they see the Charlotte Hornets on the schedule. Unfortunately for them, they only have one game remaining against the Bugs, but will be looking for the four-game season sweep.

Three of the Wizards' eight wins on the season have come against the Hornets and there's really no explanation for it. First-year head coach Charles Lee discusses the team's struggles versus Washington this season, what went wrong in last night's game, and a few other topics.

Miles Bridges' first career triple-double

"I thought he just continued to do it in a lot of different ways. Defensively, guarding, having great activity. Offensively, we've been able to use him in a lot of different situations, which has been great. He even made a great play call toward the end of the game when he called angle pop and got to the backside and threw a lob to Mark (Williams). I think he's just continuing to learn and grow and develop a lot of different facets of his game. Really happy with the performance he gave us and the vocal piece of it too."

Being 0-3 vs. the Wizards this season

“Credit to the Wizards. I think they played well tonight. They’ve played well when they’ve played us and they shot it pretty good from three. (Corey) Kispert obviously had a big first half and defensively, their length and athleticism, and some of their physicality have bogged down our offense at times. Credit to them and we just got to try and continue to get better the next time we play them.”

The defense not showing up despite playing well against Denver

“Yeah, definitely got to figure it out and how to keep these guys consistent. They’re going to come in tomorrow, and they’re going to be anxious and hungry for information on how they could’ve been better last night and what we need to do to go forward. I’m confident in the group and their usual approach to come in and try to get better tomorrow.”

The most frustrating part of the loss to Washington

“To be honest, I know that it’s the second quarter that’s obviously going to stand out with the 46-point quarter and 25-point quarter, but to me, it was the first quarter. It was how we started the game. It was how we ended the first quarter – just not enough focus, attention to detail, executing at the level you have to. I thought the middle of the first quarter is probably one of the best parts of the game that we played, and then the third quarter, I thought to start it we did a really good job. We really just couldn’t hold on to any of the momentum that we had. It’s a little disappointing to see, but I definitely think that we came out in the second half with a little bit more aggression and physicality.”

Message to the team at halftime

“At halftime, we talked about how we were unhappy with how we had executed on both ends of the court. We wanted to get a little more fight possession by possession. For the first five minutes, I think we won that first five minutes 13-5. The goal was just with each segment to the next timeout, try to win that one just step by step. I thought the guys did a really good job of that.”

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Published
Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

schuylercallihan(at)gmail.com  Twitter:@Callihan_ Schuyler Callihan is the lead publisher of Mountaineers Now, All Panthers, and All Hornets on FanNation/Sports Illustrated. He took over publishing duties of All Panthers in 2020 and wanted to expand his professional coverage in the Queen City by running the operations at All Hornets. Schuyler attended Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia before finishing up his schooling at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina. The Wheeling, West Virginia native made the move to North Carolina in 2015 and has been in Charlotte since 2021.