The Orlando Magic had to use some odd lineups to climb back into the game and that helped the Magic look better than they might have otherwise.
The Orlando Magic had a disastrous second quarter, giving up a 30-4 run to close the quarter. They seemed to bury themselves even more in the third quarter when the team went down by as much as 26 points.
That would seemingly be the time for the Magic to let themselves drag and wilt to the finish. Especially with injuries and foul trouble severely limiting the roster.
Orlando found a way to come back though, cutting the lead all the way to six and making the Charlotte Hornets sweat just a little bit.
The deficit did prove to be too much. Orlando failed to collect a few key defensive rebounds and had a few shots rim out or get taken just a hair too quickly as time began to run out. The Magic fought.
Of course, that kind of moral victory is meaningless. The Magic let themselves get too far behind, get down on themselves and make things worse before mounting a comeback and giving themselves a chance.