NBA Hoops

Orlando visits Charlotte on 3-game road slide

Toronto faces New Orleans, looks for 6th straight road win

Orlando Magic (21-59, 15th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Charlotte Hornets (40-39, 10th in the Eastern Conference)

Charlotte, North Carolina; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Orlando hits the road against Charlotte looking to stop its three-game road slide.

The Hornets are 24-25 in Eastern Conference games. Charlotte ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference in rebounding averaging 44.5 rebounds. Mason Plumlee paces the Hornets with 7.8 boards.

The Magic are 2-12 against opponents from the Southeast Division. Orlando is the worst team in the Eastern Conference scoring averaging only 104.0 points per game while shooting 43.3%.

The teams play for the fourth time this season. The Magic won the last meeting 116-109 on Jan. 15. Moritz Wagner scored 26 points to help lead the Magic to the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Miles Bridges is averaging 20.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the Hornets. LaMelo Ball is averaging 21.5 points over the last 10 games for Charlotte.

Cole Anthony is shooting 33.8% from beyond the arc with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Magic, while averaging 16.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists. Franz Wagner is averaging 14.3 points over the past 10 games for Orlando.

LAST 10 GAMES: Hornets: 6-4, averaging 114.6 points, 41.0 rebounds, 31.5 assists, 7.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 116.4 points per game.

Magic: 3-7, averaging 102.4 points, 46.1 rebounds, 24.7 assists, 6.9 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 111.0 points.

INJURIES: Hornets: None listed.

Magic: Wendell Carter Jr.: out (wrist), Jonathan Isaac: out for season (knee), Bol Bol: out (foot), Cole Anthony: out (toe), Gary Harris: out (personal), Franz Wagner: day to day (ankle), Jalen Suggs: day to day (ankle), Admiral Schofield: out (knee).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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