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Turnovers crushed the Hornets in low-scoring loss to Orlando Magic

Charlotte drops frustrating loss to the Magic in a 95-84 loss.

Austin Leake

Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images
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Eastern Conference Standings: 11th seed with a 6-11 record

Summary

The Charlotte Hornets just couldn't overcome themselves versus the Orlando Magic in their 95-84 loss.

It looked positive for the Hornets during the first half as they held a 25-18 lead after the first quarter, but the Magic's defense became too much to handle for Charlotte. The Magic struggled significantly on the offensive end, which made this a potential winnable game for the Hornets.

However, the second-half was not too kind to the Hornets offensively as they continued to turn the ball over, amassing 26 giveaways that resulted in 33 Orlando points. As well, the Hornets scored just 16 points in the third quarter, zapping any momentum they came out of the locker room with.

Instead, the Hornets went into the fourth quarter with a measly 62-58 lead and the Magic simply took over and dominated the Hornets in the final stanza. Orlando outscored the Hornets 37-22 in the fourth with Franz Wagner scoring 13 of his 21 points in the frame.

The Magic's pesky defense attacked the Hornets star players and unfortunately it seemed the injuries to the Hornets depth became exposed as well. Charlotte started the fourth quarter with K.J Simpson and Nick Smith Jr., two underutilized guards, and things went sideways fast.

Miller and Ball combined for 64 of the 69 points from the Hornets starters, which is simply never going to get the job done. Josh Green had one of his worst shooting games of the season, as he had led the NBA in 3-point percentage before tonight's contest, but went 0-4 from three and 1-7 from the field.

Best of the Night - LaMelo Ball, again

Well with the Hornets there's one aspect that never fails. That aspect is LaMelo Ball. Ball did it again tonight, following up on his 50 point outing from Saturday night, he poured in 44 of the Hornets 84 points against Orlando. Ball has now scored 35+ points in the Hornets last three games, which is a franchise record. Ball has also scored the most points in Hornets history across three games with 129 points.

Seeing LaMelo Ball playing out of his mind is really fun, but the issue is the Hornets are still losing games. The Hornets desperately need to get some of their key players back fast before the season takes a turn because LaMelo Ball simply can't do everything, which was evident in tonight's contest.

Worst of the Night - Turnovers.

It was a miserable night for the Hornets offense as they racked up a season-worst 26 turnovers, which became the story of the night and not in a good way. In fact, the amount of turnovers led to 33 Orlando points and the Magic had 19 more shot attempts, not because of rebounding, but because of the wasted possessions from the Hornets.

Obviously the Hornets are shorthanded key players, but there's no excuse to turn the ball over that many times in a game. The turnovers have been a major issue for this Hornets team and that needs to change quickly if the Hornets want to turn this season around. Miller and Ball had 13 of the Hornets 26 turnovers.

Stat of the Night - LaMelo Ball 600 Career Three-Pointers

LaMelo Ball surpassed over 600 career three-pointers in the second quarter in this matchup. Ball became the second fastest player in NBA history to reach that number. Ball was only behind Duncan Robinson, who did it in 184 games, while Ball did it in 201 games. Below is Ball's 600th career three-pointer.

Highlight of the Night - LaMelo Ball's Filthy Ball-Handling Leads to Three-Pointer

The Hornets next game will be on Wednesday versus Miami in Charlotte at 7:00 p.m est.

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Score predictions for Hornets vs. Magic

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Austin Leake
AUSTIN LEAKE

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