NEW ORLEANS, (Reuters) – The Orlando Magic finally ran out of steam on Wednesday and saw their run of nine consecutive victories come to an end with a 92-89 overtime defeat to the New Orleans Hornets.
Dwight Howard had a game-high 29 points and 20 rebounds but missed two free throws with 11 seconds left in overtime with his team trailing by a point.
The Magic (25-13) fell one win short of setting a new franchise record for consecutive victories.
“There’s not a real sense of urgency. They’re kind of just putting it in cruise control and playing,” said Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy. “It’s not good enough.”
Orlando drained three consecutive three-pointers in the final minute of regulation, including one from Hedo Turkoglu with six seconds to play that forced overtime.
But New Orleans reserve Marcus Thornton boosted the Hornets in overtime with seven points, including a pair of free throws in the final seconds that capped the scoring.
Thornton finished with a team-high 22 points, and Emeka Okafor added 18 points and 14 rebounds to help the Hornets (23-16) win their second in a row. “The last two or three weeks has been kind of rough,” said Thornton, who had been struggling with his shooting. “I’ve been in the gym every morning before everybody to get a couple of shots up.”
The Magic have been on a tear since acquiring Gilbert Arenas, Turkoglu and Jason Richardson.
New Orleans, however, were able to slow Orlando’s high-powered offense, taking the lead late in the second quarter and maintaining it until the final seconds of regulation.
Richardson scored 21 for the Magic and made two of the three three-pointers in the final minute to bring his team back. Chris Paul had 12 points and 13 assists for New Orleans.
