Hornets at Magic
Suddenly, the Charlotte Hornets are jumping back into contention for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference behind a defense that is shutting down some of the top teams in the league. The Hornets will try to bring that defense on the road and run their winning streak to three straight when they visit the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Charlotte seemed to be dropping out of competition for a postseason slot during a stretch of 18 losses in 24 games but came home and knocked off a pair of playoff teams - Washington and Atlanta - while holding them to an average of 91.5 points in the last two games. The Hornets still have a steep hill to climb as they attempt to pick up ground on the eighth-place Detroit Pistons. The Magic sit 14th in the 15-team East but are not packing it in for the season and picked up wins in the last two games, including a 112-109 overtime triumph over Philadelphia on Monday. Orlando will get a chance to play spoiler down the stretch with nine of their final 11 games against teams fighting for playoff spots or positioning.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Charlotte), FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE HORNETS (31-39): Charlotte shooting guard Nicolas Batum was part of the effort in each of the last two games after missing the previous two due to migraine headaches. The veteran Frenchman matched All-Star guard Kemba Walker with a team-high 16 points in Monday's win while posting a team-best six assists. "You know, we didn’t have a good start, the first few minutes were really bad but after that we really stepped up our game," Batum told reporters. "We did a great job on defense again tonight. That's two games in a row. We’ve got to keep playing like that.”
ABOUT THE MAGIC (26-45): Orlando came off a three-game West Coast trip before hosting the 76ers on Monday and looked fatigued at the start before finding the energy in the second half. "It depends on if you want to win or not – that’s what it comes down to," Magic forward Aaron Gordon told reporters. "If you don't want to win, then sure, use that as an excuse that you can't find energy. If you want to win, then do it and find a way." Gordon scored 17 points in the win and scored at least 16 points in five of the last six contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Magic SG Jodie Meeks (thumb) made his first appearance since Jan. 18 on Monday and went 1-of-9 from the floor in 20 minutes off the bench.
2. Hornets C Frank Kaminsky went 3-of-6 from 3-point range on Monday after a combined 3-of-19 effort in the previous three contests.
3. Charlotte took each of the first three meetings by an average of 26.7 points, including a 121-81 drubbing at home on March 10.