Magic run out of steam, stung by Hornets

NEW ORLEANS, (Reuters) – The Orlando Magic finally   ran out of steam on Wednesday and saw their run of nine   consecutive victories come to an end with a 92-89 overtime   defeat to the New Orleans Hornets.

Dwight Howard had a game-high 29 points and 20 rebounds   but missed two free throws with 11 seconds left in overtime   with his team trailing by a point.

The Magic (25-13) fell one win short of setting a new   franchise record for consecutive victories.
“There’s not a real sense of urgency. They’re kind of just   putting it in cruise control and playing,” said Orlando coach   Stan Van Gundy. “It’s not good enough.”

Orlando drained three consecutive three-pointers in the   final minute of regulation, including one from Hedo Turkoglu   with six seconds to play that forced overtime.

But New Orleans reserve Marcus Thornton boosted the   Hornets in overtime with seven points, including a pair of   free throws in the final seconds that capped the scoring.

Thornton finished with a team-high 22 points, and Emeka   Okafor added 18 points and 14 rebounds to help the Hornets   (23-16) win their second in a row. “The last two or three weeks has been kind of rough,” said   Thornton, who had been struggling with his shooting. “I’ve   been in the gym every morning before everybody to get a couple   of shots up.”

The Magic have been on a tear since acquiring Gilbert   Arenas, Turkoglu and Jason Richardson.
New Orleans, however, were able to slow Orlando’s   high-powered offense, taking the lead late in the second   quarter and maintaining it until the final seconds of   regulation.

Richardson scored 21 for the Magic and made two of the   three three-pointers in the final minute to bring his team back. Chris Paul had 12 points and 13 assists for New Orleans.