CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Paolo Banchero had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Wendell Carter Jr. added 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Orlando Magic beat the Charlotte Hornets 119-113.
The Hornets made just one of nine free throws in the fourth quarter while Orlando was going 13 of 15.
Charlotte finished 11 of 23 from the line in its fourth straight loss – Orlando wound up 27 of 30 on foul shots, AP reported.
Markelle Fultz had 16 points and Frank Wagner chipped in with 14 for the Magic, who improved to 9-19 on the road. Orlando has won three of its last four overall.
The Magic overcame a terrific second half by LaMelo Ball, who had 26 of his 33 points after the break and finished with six 3-pointers. Terry Rozier had 24 points for the Hornets.
Charlotte trailed by five after three quarters, but Ball knocked down back-to-back 3s in the first 33 seconds of the fourth period for a 91-90 lead.
The Hornets’ momentum didn’t last long as the Magic built a 110-103 lead behind Fultz, who scored on short jumpers and finished 8 of 13 from the field.
Mason Plumlee missed a layup and four straight free throws during that span as the Magic began to pull away.
Wagner helped seal the win with a step-through in the lane for a layup to put the Magic up 115-107 with 35 seconds left.
Orlando outrebounded Charlotte 52-39.
Elsewhere, the Oklahoma City Thunder took what coach Mark Daigneault called a “bloodthirsty mentality” into rematch with the Houston Rockets.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 42 points to help the Thunder blow out Houston 153-121.
They were disappointed in losing at Houston on Wednesday and responded by setting an Oklahoma City record for points in a game, surpassing the 150 they scored in a win over the Boston Celtics last month.
“Just (wanted to) be the aggressors,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Play our style, our brand of basketball. I think we got away from that a little bit in Houston, and we just wanted to get back on track.”
Daigneault was most pleased that the approach was player-led.
“It wasn´t like I was giving motivational speeches,” he said.
“But, you know, as a team, they kind of banded together and decided that they were going to come out and play the way they did. And they were impressive because of it.”
Gilgeous-Alexander set the tone by scoring 20 points in the first quarter.
“I thought tonight was, like, a pretty big leadership statement game for him,” Daigneault said.
“I think when you need a response like we needed tonight coming out of the other night, you rely on your guys that are most experienced, who play the most minutes.”
