Orlando punched its ticket to the Eastern Conference playoffs on April 18, beating the Charlotte Hornets 121-90 in the NBA play-in tournament to claim the No. 8 seed. The Magic will face the top-seeded Detroit Pistons in a first-round matchup that begins Sunday.
Paolo Banchero led the way with 25 points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block. Franz Wagner added 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Wendell Carter Jr. scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. Orlando seized control immediately, opening with a 38-16 first quarter and shooting 67% from the floor, making 16 of 24 shots, while Charlotte hit just 5 of 20 attempts and shot 25% in the opening 12 minutes.
The margin did not soften after that. The Hornets were held to 34% shooting in the first half as Orlando kept extending the lead behind a balanced attack and a sharp defensive start. LaMelo Ball scored 23 points for Charlotte, Miles Bridges had 15 and Brandon Miller added 14 points while making four of seven three-pointers. Kon Knueppel scored 11 points but finished 3 for 10 overall and 1 of 6 from deep.
The result ended Charlotte’s season and sent the Hornets to their 10th consecutive playoff miss, the longest drought in the NBA. That stood in sharp contrast to a team that entered the game with one of the league’s most explosive offenses and a surprise play-in berth built around the three-point shot, averaging 43.3 attempts per game. Orlando, meanwhile, arrived having battled its way into the postseason rather than finishing among the East’s top contenders, and now gets a far tougher challenge against Detroit.
The opener told the story before halftime: Orlando did not just win, it removed any doubt about who belonged in the next round. For Jamahl Mosley’s team, the larger test now starts with a top seed and the pressure that comes with it.