The Orlando Magic set a season-high with 35 assists to get their offense moving and defeat the Charlotte Hornets to end a five-game losing streak.
The Charlotte Hornets were scrambling to try to stay in the game against the Orlando Magic. They had cut a 16-point deficit to seven with about three minutes to play. The Magic were still in a precarious situation on the road.
And the Hornets were pressing to try to get it done, doubling Markelle Fultz in the corner and trying to slow down the Magic and compress their time to execute.
Markelle Fultz whipped the ball cross-court to Evan Fournier. The clock was ticking to get it over. Evan Fournier moved it back toward Markelle Fultz as he raced toward mid-court. The Hornets defense was scrambling to catch up.
Markelle Fultz caught the ball and before landing threw the ball upcourt to Terrence Ross.
Terrence Ross was ready. He rose up and drained the 3-pointer to give the Magic a 10-point lead. The pressure of the late-game situation had dissipated. Orlando got the relief of a needed win, defeating Charlotte 112-100 at Spectrum Center on Monday.
The ball movement that was part of that play was part of the Magic’s best ball movement throughout the game.
Orlando recorded a season-high 35 assists to get the team’s offense moving at long last. The team got a career-high 14 assists from Fultz, using him to get into the lane and keep the ball moving around the perimeter.
Yes, the Magic’s offense got stuck on several occasions. That happened when the team allowed itself to get stuck on one side or threw out lineups that did not have enough shooting. The team could fall in love with trying to set up post-ups for Nikola Vucevic or curls for Terrence Ross. Orlando could still slow to a crawl as it tried to get organized.
Those moments allowed the Hornets to get out in transition. They found some breathing room that way and in attacking the offensive glass too. Orlando had a lot to clean up.
But the team largely did. The Magic got the ball moving again and their defense locked in, challenging shots and holding the Hornets to 46.1-percent shooting and 9-for-31 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Magic had control of the game almost throughout. They did so with their ball movement and timely shotmaking. And they did so with their defense scrambling and doing a good job contesting shots.
The Orlando Magic are now 22-28, one-half game behind the Brooklyn Nets for seventh in the Eastern Conference. They are four games ahead of the Chicago Bulls for the final spot in the playoffs.
The Orlando Magic’s road trip continues Wednesday in Boston against the Boston Celtics.