Magic mauled by Bobcats, drop 38th game of season

The Orlando Magic are having a rough go of it this season. On Tuesday night at the luminous Amway Center, they dropped their 25^th game since December 21^st to the Charlotte Bobcats, 105-92. The Magic were led by center Nikola Vucevic and guard Arron Afflalo as both had 18 points.

The Bobcats, losers of eight of their last ten games, scored 63 first half points and led the Magic by 22 before taking their feet off the gas in the last two quarters.

Despite scoring the first ten points of the third quarter, the Magic were only able to cut Charlotte’s lead down to four points by the fourth.

As soon as things got comfortable for Charlotte, they ratcheted up the pressure and put the Magic to rest for good. The Bobcats got their lead back up to eight points with just over a minute to go, effectively ending any hopes of a Magic comeback.

Charlotte’s guard combination of Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson were deadly against the Magic. Henderson ended the second quarter with 22-points, finishing the game with 24, and Walker torched the Magic for 24 of his own points to go along with seven assist and four rebounds.

What hurt the Magic’s chances against the ‘Cats were their poor field goal percentage and mediocre efforts from Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick.

Both men combined for 20 points, but Nelson was just two-for-eight from three point land and Redick shot a dismal 28 percent from the field.

Redick’s performance may have been linked to persistent rumors of his exit from Orlando, as this game could be the last home game of his Magic career.  According to SI.com, the Milwaukee Bucks are interested in Redick, as are the Knicks. In another report from Cbssports.com, the Magic are actively shopping Redick to the Knicks for guard Iman Shumpert.

While this may not sit well with fans, Redick is a free agent this summer and there is no guarantee that he will re-sign with Orlando.

As this team continues to trudge through one of the worst seasons in franchise history, only winning three games since mid-December, some on the Magic bench seemed to have turned their eyes toward the off-season.

Many of the team’s shots clanked loudly off the rim and backboard, they lacked hustle at times, and just had a tough time keeping up with the Bobcats erratic ball movement.

A valiant effort nonetheless, but going 3-25 in your last 28 games doesn’t scream courageous to fans.

But if the game’s outcome was depressing, fans were at least treated to some halftime excitement. A Magic fan got the chance to win $1,000 if he hit a shot from halfcourt, and he did just that on his second try, hitting nothing but net.

Take solace in knowing that some are having fun at the Amway Center when the Magic play because from the looks of the bench, the scoreboard, and the win column, the players on the team aren’t having fun at all.

Note: Orlando takes off for Dallas tonight to play the Mavericks on Wednesday night. Tip is at 8:30pm ET.

-JH