Orlando Magic Punch Playoff Ticket, Face Pistons

0:00It's April 18th. This is Charlotte Hornets News today, powered by AI everything happening with your team. I'm Corey with the story. The Orlando Magic just punched their ticket to the playoffs for the third straight year. Dismantling the Charlotte Hornets 121-2, 90 in a do-or-die play-in-game Achaeocenter. Facing elimination, they set a brutal physical pace from tip-off, leading by 35 in the first half alone, and cruising to the blow-out win-as. The East's number 8 seed. Orlando starters dropped 84 points combined, with Paolo Banchero leading at 25, Franz Wagner at 18, Wendell Carter Jr. at 16, Desmond Bain at 13, and Jalen Subbs at 12. They owned the paint 64-28, raced the head on fast breaks 22-7, and feasted on 20 Charlotte turnovers for. 26 points. Coach Jamal Mosley and the squad talked up that aggressive mindset at shoot-around, stressing they had to fight to keep the season alive.

1:01Fans packed the arena for the national TV spotlight on Amazon Prime Video, and the Magic's defense rattled Charlotte into just 33 points, 7% shooting all night. Defensively, Orlando clamped down Charlotte's hot three-point shooting, holding them to 26.7% from deep, despite the Hornets. Leading the league in makes during the regular season. The bench chipped in 37 points to Charlotte's 25, with standouts like Goga by Tadze, blocking shots and Jamal Cain slamming home key. Buckets. Now the Magic head to Detroit for a first-round clash with the top-seated pistons on Sunday at 6.30 p.m., on NBC, and Peacock, another physical. Battle awaits, but they're rolling with momentum into little Caesars Arena.