The Orlando Magic and the Charlotte Hornets will face off on Monday night in Charlotte, with both teams putting up strong numbers recently. However, only Orlando has been able to turn those numbers into a string of wins.
The Hornets, on the other hand, are looking for more victories despite some strong individual performances. Charlotte guard LaMelo Ball scored 50 points in Saturday’s 125-119 loss to Milwaukee. That was Charlotte’s third loss in the last four games, with their only win coming in overtime against the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.
“That’s just him leading the team, as always,” said Brandon Miller about Ball, who was ranked third in the NBA in scoring with an average of 30.2 points per game. “Just being the top dog, making everybody better, getting everybody in the right places. (He’s) competing at the highest level he can and trying to get some wins for this Charlotte Hornets team.”
The Magic have been one of the hottest teams in the league, winning eight of their last nine games. One of those wins was a 114-99 victory over the Hornets on November 12.
Franz Wagner scored 30 points to help Orlando beat Detroit 111-100 on Saturday. He was the only starter to score in double figures, while Moritz Wagner came off the bench to score 18 points, and three other reserves scored 10 or more points.
Moritz Wagner’s contribution has been especially important to the Magic’s success.
“Moe wakes up with 10 points,” said Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley. “I think that’s just how it looks for him. He and Franz, obviously the brother connection is one thing. They’re knowing where one guy is going to be, the chemistry and communication that they have, just the ability to play off each other.”
Franz Wagner had 32 points in the first game against Charlotte this season.
For the Hornets, both Ball and Miller hit six 3-pointers in the loss to Milwaukee. Ball also recorded 10 assists and took 38 of Charlotte’s 100 shots from the field. Miller grabbed 11 rebounds in the game.
Only Ball and former Hornets guard Kemba Walker have scored 50 points in a game for Charlotte. Ball has expressed his admiration for Walker and appreciates the support he’s received from him.
“That’s my guy for sure,” Ball said. “Always helping, always looking out. I mean, just always putting in the extra effort to be there and stuff. So, that’s all love.”
The Hornets will begin a five-game homestand on Monday and have won their last four home games.
However, Charlotte is dealing with an injury, as forward Grant Williams is expected to miss Monday’s game due to a right knee injury.
“I think it has just been diagnosed as a right knee injury,” said Hornets coach Charles Lee. “We’ll continue to get some imaging and evaluations. The most important thing is that all of our prayers are with Grant, and we hope the news comes back as good as possible.”
The Magic might be closer to getting Wendell Carter Jr. back after he went through another workout on Saturday.
“He’s gone through some pretty, pretty strenuous workouts, so we’re going to continue to see how he responds to those and we’ll go from there,” Mosley said.
