Hornets Drop Close Game to Magic
After falling to their Southeastern rival, the Charlotte Hornets lost to another rival, the Orlando Magic, 111-104. This was the fourth time this year the Magic beat the Hornets. Paolo Banchero had 32 points, and Franz Wagner had 26 points to lead the Magic. This was a big win for Orlando as they are slotted in as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, they are firmly in the Play-In Tournament but are two games behind the Atlanta Hawks in the loss column for the seventh seed in the East. The Hornets, who are mathematically eliminated from the postseason, are playing for pride during the final 11 games of the regular season.
At the start of the game, both teams were feeling each other out, with missed shots and turnovers. Orlando was the first team to find some rhythm by sharing the ball and crashing the boards for extra possessions. Banchero got going midway through the first, the six-foot-10 power forward is currently on a streak of scoring 30 or more points in three straight games and is averaging 30 points on 49 percent shooting in this month alone. He finished with 10 points in the quarter. The Hornets were able to regroup when Banchero went to the bench. They got to the free-throw line more, were aggressive in the paint, and ran pick-and-rolls for their shooters to get open opportunities at the three-point line. Due to this, Orlando only held a 29-27 lead heading into the second quarter.
The second quarter was a stark contrast to the first. It was a back-and-forth battle that showcased an explosive one-handed slam dunk by DaQuan Jeffries, and the Magic seemed unable to miss from three-point range. A major highlight of the quarter was LaMelo Ball picking up his fourth foul at the five-minute mark. The former number three overall pick struggled against the Magic’s defense, shooting just 20 percent in the first half and scoring only three points. During Ball's absence, Charlotte received contributions from Tidjane Salaun and KJ Simpson. The Magic built a lead of as many as thirteen in the second quarter and headed into halftime with a 63-53 advantage.
The Hornets sought answers at halftime and came out with an electrifying start in the third quarter. Charlotte launched a 17-4 run that transformed a ten-point deficit into a six-point lead. Josh Green and Miles Bridges contributed to the Hornets' resurgence, aided by Orlando's turnovers and missed shots that they had made in the first half. Ball changed the pace of the game before picking up his fifth foul at the six-minute mark in the quarter. The Hornets relied on their backup guards to hold down the fort until Ball could return in the last quarter. The Magic took advantage of Ball’s absence and cut into the lead, and tied the game up at 83 heading into the final 12 minutes.
The fourth quarter started off as the Banchero show; he simply could not be stopped, forcing the Hornets to call a timeout with nine minutes to go. Orlando held a 92-87 before Ball kickstarted a 10-5 run to tie the game up at 97 with six minutes to go. The last few minutes of the game came down to the wire, with both teams making tough shots and unable to pull away from the other. However, Orlando made the clutch shots down the stretch to win this game by seven. Orlando extended their winning streak to three, while the Hornets look to get back in the win column against the Toronto Raptors on March 28th.
