A late field-goal drought of nearly four minutes stung the Orlando Magic as they watched the host Charlotte Hornets pull away late to post a 122-112 victory Friday night at Spectrum Center.
Dwayne Bacon matched his career-high with 26 points and Cole Anthony had 22 points to lead the Magic (21-46), who lost the season series with the Hornets 2-1.
R.J. Hampton added 16 points and Mo Bamba pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds to go with four blocks for Orlando, which couldn’t overcome 68 points in the paint and 23 second-chance points by Charlotte.
The Magic had 60 points in the paint and 18 second-chance points.
Terry Rozier scored 28 points, LaMelo Ball finished with 27 points and P.J. Washington had 23 to lead Charlotte (33-34).
Orlando trailed by five with 5:46 to play but scored just one point over the next 3:08 and endured a field-goal drought of 3:45 as Charlotte took advantage.
Orlando made the most of its 36 points in the paint to take a 62-60 halftime lead, but the third quarter was the difference.
After an Anthony 3 pushed Orlando to a 73-68 lead, the Hornets went on a 9-0 run — capped by a Rozier 3 — to produced a 77-73 advantage.
Charlotte outscored Orlando 34-27 in the quarter as the hosts shot 62.5% (15 of 24). The Hornets did most of their damage in the paint, going 13 of 17 as they outscored the Magic 26-8 on points in the paint.
That discrepancy was a big reason why the Magic’s five 3-pointers in the quarter didn’t earn them much traction on the scoreboard.
Charlotte extended its lead to 102-92 just three minutes into the fourth quarter after another Rozier 3-pointer and looked poised to pull away.
But Anthony scored six points and Bacon added a free throw over the next 2:28 as the Magic closed within five at 106-101 with 5:46 to play.
But a miss and a turnover on Orlando’s next two possessions allowed Charlotte to push its lead back to 10.
Jalen McDaniels gave the Hornets a 114-102 lead with the team’s ninth 3-pointer of the game. Bamba ended his team’s field-goal drought with a put-back with 2:38 left, and the Magic later got within seven but couldn’t catch up.
The Magic return to action Sunday when they play the Timberwolves at Amway Center. It will be Orlando’s final home game of the season.
