Ohm YoungmisukApr 17, 2026, 10:54 PM ETCloseOhm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University. Follow him on Twitter »Follow on XMultiple Authors
Paolo Banchero posterizes Moussa Diabate with one-handed jam (0:22)Paolo Banchero posterizes Moussa Diabate with one-handed jam (0:22)
ORLANDO, Fla. — With 3:20 to go in the second quarter, Desmond Bane got up after getting tangled with Miles Bridges with a big smile on his face while his Magic had a huge lead over the Hornets.
Bane and Jalen Suggs smothered Bridges before Bane bowled over the Hornets forward as he was going for the ball. Bridges turned the ball over then was called for a loose-ball foul and a technical foul for pushing off Bane as he was trying to get up.
Bane repeatedly nodded his head, mouthing, “yeah!” as the Magic were on their way to a stunning 35-point first-half lead. In a do-or-die play-in game for the eighth seed in the East, the Magic summoned their most complete game and destroyed the Hornets 121-90 on Friday. The 31-point win is the largest margin of victory in an NBA play-in game, according to ESPN Research.
Orlando avoided ending what would have been an incredibly frustrating and underachieving season marred by injuries and inconsistency by playing inspired, connected and physical basketball. The Magic travel to Detroit to play the top-seeded Pistons in Game 1 of their best-of-seven first-round series Sunday.
Friday’s game was a blueprint for how Orlando is designed to play. The Magic bullied the Hornets with their physicality on both ends, played suffocating defense that forced 14 first-half turnovers, which Orlando turned into 22 points, and looked like the team that entered the season expected to be a top-four unit in the East.
Charlotte, which overcame a 4-14 start and became one of the hottest teams in the NBA thanks to the top-ranked offense (120.7 ORTG) and fifth-ranked defense (110.2 DRTG) since Jan. 1, was hoping to snap the longest playoff drought in the NBA at nine seasons.
The Hornets came in with confidence after an emotional 127-126 overtime win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday in the 9-10 play-in. The Hornets were 3-1 against the Magic this season, winning each of the last three meetings by 15 or more points.
Not only was Orlando stifling on defense, but the Magic also repeatedly leaked out for easy baskets after missed shots or turnovers, scoring 24 fast-break points.
The Magic went on a 26-6 run that spanned from the middle of the first quarter to the start of the second, and Charlotte never recovered. The Hornets didn’t score 30 points until the 3:02 mark in the second quarter.
“We dug ourselves a hole that was too big,” said Charlotte star point guard LaMelo Ball, who finished with 23 points. “We couldn’t get out of it.
“We knew they were going to be real physical … but sometimes, it’s just the way the game is called. … It’s all learning lessons. You live, you learn. You evolve.”
It has been a roller coaster season for the Magic. They traded four unprotected first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony to the Memphis Grizzlies last summer for Bane, who was supposed to open things up for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. But the Magic never put things together, and Wagner missed 48 games this season because of injuries.
The Magic know they will need a lot more of this for them to have any chance of upsetting the Pistons.
“There’s a physicality to this game that’s going to be real,” Mosley said of the Magic and Pistons playing a similar brand of physical basketball. “… There’s going to be a lot of aggression. There’s going to be a lot of physicality. It’s going to be a dogfight.”
Paolo Banchero posterizes Moussa Diabate with one-handed jam (0:22)Paolo Banchero posterizes Moussa Diabate with one-handed jam (0:22)
Ohm YoungmisukApr 17, 2026, 10:54 PM ETCloseOhm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University. Follow him on Twitter »Follow on XMultiple Authors
CloseOhm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University. Follow him on Twitter »Follow on X
But instead, the Hornets looked shellshocked in the first half.
Orlando’s largest lead was 68-33 with 1:16 left in the second quarter.
Paolo Banchero posterizes Moussa Diabate with one-handed jam (0:22)