Following Strong Start, Charlotte Shoots Season-Best, Deal Magic Tough Wire-to-Wire Defeat
In each of their first three meetings of the 2023-24 campaign, the Charlotte Hornets were pushed around and unable to match the Orlando Magic’s high-level physicality. On Friday night at Spectrum Center, they finally got some much-needed payback in a 124-115 victory.
With both Miles Bridges and Vasilije Micić back in the lineup after sitting out Wednesday’s loss to Portland, the Hornets shot a season-best 59.7% and 50.0% from 3-point range (15-of-30) against the Magic’s top-ranked post-All-Star-Break defense for their highest point total since Jan. 22. For Orlando, this loss could be a costly one, after it entered the night tied with New York for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
This offensive showcase was highlighted by a spectacular showing from rookie Brandon Miller, who couldn’t have been hotter to start the night. He quickly ran up 26 points – 19 in the first quarter – on a flawless 10-of-10 clip to help Charlotte to a 67-52 halftime lead. This output made Miller and Steph Curry the only two NBA players since the 1996-97 NBA campaign to tally at least 25 points on 100/100/100% shooting and five 3-pointers in a single half.
Turnovers started trickling in for the Hornets in third, though they recovered in time to maintain their 15-point advantage going into the fourth. Orlando opened the final frame on a 15-4 run – Franz Wagner scored 11 points over this span – to slice the deficit down to four with 7:44 remaining. Grant Williams and Dāvis Bertāns rapidly combined for a countering 10-0 spurt and although the Magic later got back to within six, another 8-0 Charlotte flurry put the game away for good.
“I think our whole mindset, our physicality, we played with really good force,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford, when asked about his takeaways. “The ball was going into the paint. We had 29 assists, which is good, unselfish, inside-out play. The biggest part of it was we started so well. Brandon obviously was terrific. The second half was hard for him because they just sent the second defender at him whenever he had the ball.”
Miller finished with a game-high-tying 32 points on 11-of-13 shooting – 5-of-6 from 3-point range – moving past both Luka Dončić and Anthony Edwards for the fifth-most single-season 3-pointers by a rookie in NBA history (173). The 21-year-old also joined Walter Herrmann and Kareem Rush as the only players in franchise history to record 30-or-more points on 80% shooting and five 3-pointers in a single outing. “It’s not all about the shots,” said Miller. “I think we did a great job against their top scorers on the defensive side, and that got us easy buckets in transition. Our intensity from start to finish, I think that’s why we won the game tonight.”
Bridges (23), Williams (18), Micić (14), Bertāns (season-high 12) and Aleksej Pokuševski (10) also had double-digit scoring performances for a Charlotte team that drained its second-most free-throw attempts without a miss in team history (23-of-23). This victory ended the squad’s five-game losing streak to Orlando, plus ruined Orlando’s chances of sweeping Charlotte in a full four-game regular season series for the first time since 2010-11.
Like Miller, Paolo Banchero poured in 32 points, but needed 26 shots to get there (10-of-26, 1-of-8 from 3-point range). Wagner added 22 points – 13 in the fourth – and Markelle Fultz had 15 off the bench, his most in nearly a month (16 on March 6). Prior to this game, Orlando had only hadn’t conceded more than 111 points in any outing since Feb. 13.
The Hornets will play the seventh game of their ongoing homestand against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, April 7 beginning at 6 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.
2024-04-05
Miller Can’t Miss In 1st Half, Hornets Curtail Magic’s Late Comeback Efforts
Sam Perley, NBA.com/Hornets
Following Strong Start, Charlotte Shoots Season-Best, Deal Magic Tough Wire-to-Wire Defeat
In each of their first three meetings of the 2023-24 campaign, the Charlotte Hornets were pushed around and unable to match the Orlando Magic’s high-level physicality. On Friday night at Spectrum Center, they finally got some much-needed payback in a 124-115 victory.
With both Miles Bridges and Vasilije Micić back in the lineup after sitting out Wednesday’s loss to Portland, the Hornets shot a season-best 59.7% and 50.0% from 3-point range (15-of-30) against the Magic’s top-ranked post-All-Star-Break defense for their highest point total since Jan. 22. For Orlando, this loss could be a costly one, after it entered the night tied with New York for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
This offensive showcase was highlighted by a spectacular showing from rookie Brandon Miller, who couldn’t have been hotter to start the night. He quickly ran up 26 points – 19 in the first quarter – on a flawless 10-of-10 clip to help Charlotte to a 67-52 halftime lead. This output made Miller and Steph Curry the only two NBA players since the 1996-97 NBA campaign to tally at least 25 points on 100/100/100% shooting and five 3-pointers in a single half.
Turnovers started trickling in for the Hornets in third, though they recovered in time to maintain their 15-point advantage going into the fourth. Orlando opened the final frame on a 15-4 run – Franz Wagner scored 11 points over this span – to slice the deficit down to four with 7:44 remaining. Grant Williams and Dāvis Bertāns rapidly combined for a countering 10-0 spurt and although the Magic later got back to within six, another 8-0 Charlotte flurry put the game away for good.
“I think our whole mindset, our physicality, we played with really good force,” said Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford, when asked about his takeaways. “The ball was going into the paint. We had 29 assists, which is good, unselfish, inside-out play. The biggest part of it was we started so well. Brandon obviously was terrific. The second half was hard for him because they just sent the second defender at him whenever he had the ball.”
Miller finished with a game-high-tying 32 points on 11-of-13 shooting – 5-of-6 from 3-point range – moving past both Luka Dončić and Anthony Edwards for the fifth-most single-season 3-pointers by a rookie in NBA history (173). The 21-year-old also joined Walter Herrmann and Kareem Rush as the only players in franchise history to record 30-or-more points on 80% shooting and five 3-pointers in a single outing. “It’s not all about the shots,” said Miller. “I think we did a great job against their top scorers on the defensive side, and that got us easy buckets in transition. Our intensity from start to finish, I think that’s why we won the game tonight.”
Bridges (23), Williams (18), Micić (14), Bertāns (season-high 12) and Aleksej Pokuševski (10) also had double-digit scoring performances for a Charlotte team that drained its second-most free-throw attempts without a miss in team history (23-of-23). This victory ended the squad’s five-game losing streak to Orlando, plus ruined Orlando’s chances of sweeping Charlotte in a full four-game regular season series for the first time since 2010-11.
Like Miller, Paolo Banchero poured in 32 points, but needed 26 shots to get there (10-of-26, 1-of-8 from 3-point range). Wagner added 22 points – 13 in the fourth – and Markelle Fultz had 15 off the bench, his most in nearly a month (16 on March 6). Prior to this game, Orlando had only hadn’t conceded more than 111 points in any outing since Feb. 13.
The Hornets will play the seventh game of their ongoing homestand against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, April 7 beginning at 6 PM ET. Follow all the action on Bally Sports Southeast and WFNZ 92.7 FM.