One night after the Magic blew a 27 point home lead against the Celtics, Orlando still felt the after effect.
Dwight Howard led the Magic with 28 points and 16 rebounds in a 97-63 road loss to the New Orleans Hornets.
The loss isn’t what stands out as much, though it was pathetic. Dwight was more upset by the lack of effort his team gave.
“I look at guys and they don’t look like they want to play,” Howard said following the lopsided loss. “I told them at halftime, ‘If you don’t want to play, just stay in the locker room, because it don’t make sense for a team who we should beat to just demolish us.’ ”
The Hornets snapped a 9 game losing streak Friday night behind Carl Landry’s 17 points.
The Magic shot 39% from the field while the Hornets shot 51%.
A collision at the basket limited Jameer Nelson to just 11 minutes on the night, leaving the Magic thin at point guard.
Hornets closed the second quarter on a 21-8 run, taking a 47-34 lead at intermission.
Second half wasn’t any better for Orlando, scoring only 33 points.
“They killed us because they just played hard and they wanted it,” Howard said. “Look at their roster, but they play hard every night. … They kicked our butts tonight, not because they’re a way better team than us, but because they play harder than us.”
The Magic will look to end their 2 game losing streak Sunday at home against the Indiana Pacers, tip off set for 6pm.
