Short-Handed Magic Flip Switch in 4th Quarter, Beat Hornets for 3rd Win in a Row

Jonathan Isaac’s corner three remained on the rim for ages but luckily found the net after a few bounces.

In a night of essentially woeful shooting, the 3-pointer in the fourth quarter stood out as a change of fortune. The Orlando Magic offense dug itself out of the mud in time to salvage its ninth win in 10 games.

The Magic defeated the host Charlotte Hornets 95-84 in the last 12 minutes of the match and outperformed their rivals in the Southeast Group by 37-22.

Three of the Magic’s opening night starters – Jalen Suggs (left hamstring strain), Wendell Carter Jr. (left foot plantar fasciitis) and All-Star Paolo Banchero (right oblique tear) – were unavailable. Afterwards, starter Gary Harris had to move to the bench. hamstring tightness on its own in the first quarter.

The cuts meant Orlando’s offense was nowhere to be found for much of the evening. But the Magic’s fourth quarter this season found a way to overcome their shortcomings in the first three periods.

The win was the Magic’s third straight and ninth in 10 games, improving to 12-7 this season. Even on an ugly shooting night, a win is a beautiful thing.

“A brave win. A brave, courageous win,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said after the game. “Our bodies are breaking down and we never make excuses; this group doesn’t make excuses. This is the second game we’ve found a way to win. The guys stepped in, stepped in.”

Magic shot 39.4% from the field, 26.1% from three and made only half of his free throws. However, the defense harassed the Hornets, shooting 7-of-32 from three-point range and committing 27 total turnovers; This made him the second player with the most turnovers by an opponent in Magic history. These extra properties gave 33 Magic points.

“Basketball is a game full of mistakes, and we made mistakes, but we didn’t let our offense affect our defense,” Mosley said. “This is a tremendous effort by this group to want to win and get it done by committee.”

“We’re kind of dogs, man. “We’re really into this,” Isaac said postgame. “We recognize the talent we have on the defensive end, and as long as the shots kept falling (or not), we were able to pull away defensively. We just want that, you know. It’s part of who we are. It’s not something we try to do, it’s just who we are. From the first man on the bench to the last “We want to defend down to the man and we want to make plays and it shows.”

Franz Wagner scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to give Magic 21 points. The next four scorers were Magic reserves: Moe Wagner (16), Cole Anthony (16), Jonathan Isaac (11) and Anthony Black (10). The Magic bench defeated Charlotte’s second unit 53-15.

Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball was the leading scorer with 44 points and Brandon Miller added 20 points, but his supporting cast produced just 20 points on 8-of-28 shooting.

“We’ve got personnel. We’ve got people who can defend. We’ve got a great team,” Anthony said. “We’ve proven that on nights so far, and on a night like tonight, no one shoots particularly well. As a team, we shot 26 percent (from three) and 39 percent from the field. It’s hard to win games like that, but we did it tonight.”

“We can compete with anyone in the league. That’s what I believe. We’ve proven it and we’ll continue to prove it.”

The Magic will host the Chicago Bulls for a one-off contest the day before Thanksgiving before heading to the East Coast for a five-game road trip. Tip-off time is 7pm ET at Kia Center.

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