Orlando Magic Crush Charlotte Hornets, End Playoff Drought

0:00It's April 18th, I'm Cory with the story. This is Charlotte Hornet's News, today, driven by AI and built for fans. The Charlotte Hornet season ended in a blowout loss to the Orlando Magic, 121-90 in the play in tournament. That victory sends Orlando to the first round of the playoffs, where they'll face the top-seated Detroit pistons from the east. For Charlotte, it's now a 10-year playoff drought. Their longest active streak in the league, and this was their worst defeat of the 20. 25-2026 campaign. Orlando dominated early, jumping out to a 27-10 run, and building a 31-point half-time lead, the biggest ever in play in history. They stretched to 35 by the end, shooting 50% from the field with five players and double figures. Paulo Banchero dropped 25 points on 9 of 17 shooting. Franz Wagner added 18 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Wow. Orlando Carter Jr. was perfect almost, 16 points on 6 of 7.

1:00Hornet's fans are feeling the pain after that earlier win over the Miami Heat. Charlotte shot just 33.7% overall, and 26.7% from 3, missing 33 of 45 tries. They coughed up 20 turnovers for 26 magic points, and got out-rebounded, 49-34. The Mellow Ball led with 23 points, but only two came before half-time, with 21 in a third quarter that was too late. Miles Bridges had 15, Brandon Miller 14, and Rookie Khan to Nuopal, struggled big, just 11 points and one of 12 from deep in the play-in. Magic Now gear up for that tough piston series, while Hornet's head to the offseason wondering how to break this drought.