Hornets Hammer Magic, 128-101

The Hornets move to 41-39 on the season.

CHARLOTTE, NC - Thursday night, the Charlotte Hornets took care of business against the visiting Orlando Magic, 128-101. With the win, the Hornets are guaranteed to finish the season with a .500 or better record, marking the first time since the 2015-16 season.

Coming out flat against some of the bottom-tier teams in the NBA has been a theme for the Hornets this year. After a sluggish few minutes, the Hornets turned it up a notch and took control of the game early.

Jalen McDaniels was active on both ends of the floor notching four points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block in just nine minutes of floor time in the first half. More importantly, after not playing a single minute in the loss to Miami on Tuesday, Montrezl Harrell came out with great energy and led all scorers with 12 points, and also rejected a pair of shots at the rim. 

R.J. Hampton's buzzer-beater from just inside halfcourt at the end of the first was about the only highlight for the Magic. Meanwhile, Cody Martin, Miles Bridges, and P.J. Washington put on a dunking clinic including a fierce throwdown by Bridges.

SKY MILES TAKES OFF‼️ ✈️✈️✈️@MilesBridges | @Drpepper | @HornetsOnBally pic.twitter.com/vZ9dtXAFAK

— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) April 8, 2022

Orlando had a rocky start on the offensive end in the 2nd quarter missing 11 of its first 12 shots from the floor. They went 7/25 in the frame which opened the door for the Hornets to build a comfortable 70-50 lead at the break.

The Magic woke up in the opening minutes of the third quarter going on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to just twelve. The Hornets had no rhythm whatsoever missing seven of the first eight shots from the floor with the only make being a LaMelo Ball dunk on a breakaway. An early timeout by James Borrego settled things down as the lead quickly ballooned back up to 20. 

The energy inside Spectrum Center picked up quite a bit thanks to LaMelo going between the legs and off the backboard for an alley-oop to Harrell. 

THIS JUST HAPPENED! 👀👀👀@MELOD1P ↗️ @MONSTATREZZ #AllFly | @hornets pic.twitter.com/TDaVKkBn0O

— Bally Sports: Hornets (@HornetsOnBally) April 8, 2022

However, that was just a warmup for what would happen just a few minutes later. After a ball went out of bounds in the corner, both teams started pushing and shoving which resulted in Harrell, Robin Lopez, and Admiral Schofield being ejected. 

We’ve got a little pushing and shoving going on pic.twitter.com/EKJI1ybHm8

— Schuyler Callihan (@Callihan_) April 8, 2022

After a long officials review to determine the fouls/ejections, the Hornets picked right back off where they left off and finished the game game in convincing style. In the final four minutes of play, Borrego was able to get his starters some rest and put in James Bouknight, J.T. Thor, and Nick Richards.

BOX SCORE

ORL: 28-22-32-16-101

CHA: 30-40-27-31-128

TEAM STATS (ACCUMULATIVE)

1st

ORL: 11/23 FG | 3/8 3FG | 11 REB | 18 PIP | 4 TOs

CHA: 12/23 FG | 1/9 3FG | 11 REB | 14 PIP | 18 TOs

2nd

ORL: 18/48 FG | 6/19 3FG | 22 REB | 22 PIP | 8 TOs

CHA: 26/45 FG | 5/17 3FG | 26 REB | 38 PIP | 3 TOs

3rd

ORL: 31/71 FG | 12/33 3FG | 32 REB | 34 PIP | 12 TOs

CHA: 36/58 FG | 8/26 3FG | 38 REB | 50 PIP | 8 TOs

4th

ORL: 38/95 FG | 15/48 3FG | 43 REB | 42 PIP | 16 TOs

CHA: 48/91 FG | 12/34 3FG | 56 REB | 66 PIP | 11 TOs

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