NBA Picks 4/17 – Hornets @ Magic

The NBA Play-In Tournament concludes tonight with the ninth-seeded Charlotte Hornets (44-38 in the regular season) visiting eighth-seeded Orlando Magic (45-37) at Kia Center on Prime Video. The winner will secure the No. 8 seed in the actual playoffs and face the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons in a best-of-seven, first-round series beginning on Sunday night. The loser will have their season come to an end and qualify for the NBA Draft Lottery.

The Southeast Division foes faced each other four times during the regular season, with Charlotte winning three of the four matchups. All four contests were decided by double-digits. Orlando won the opener 123-107 at Charlotte, and the Hornets went on to dominate the final three contests — 120-105 at ORL on 10/30, 124-97 at ORL on 1/22 and 130-111 at home on 3/19.

Orlando had won 10 of 11 against Charlotte prior to dropping three straight to them this season.

Charlotte is a 3.5-point favorite and the total is 217.5.

Charlotte escaped with a dramatic 127-126 overtime win against the No. 10 seed Miami Heat on Tuesday night. Hornets guard LaMelo Ball’s layup with 4.7 seconds left in overtime proved to be the winning score for Charlotte. Miami guard Davion Mitchell’s layup attempt at the buzzer was blocked by Miles Bridges.

The game featured a controversial no-call early in the second quarter when Hornets guard LaMelo Ball had his driving layup blocked. Bam Adebayo grabbed the rebound on the baseline, and as Ball layed on the ground, Ball grabbed the back of Adebayo’s left ankle while Adebayo’s right leg was in the air which caused Adebayo to fall hard to the floor, landing on his tailbone.

Bam Adebayo — who averaged 20.1 points and 10 rebounds per game — did not return to the game because of the injury, meanwhile LaMelo Ball finished the contest with a game-high 30 points, along with 10 assists and 5 rebounds, in addition to hitting the game-winning basket. Many felt Ball should’ve been ejected and/or suspended for his actions against Adebayo. The NBA reviewed the play and issued LaMelo Ball a Flagrant Foul and fined him $35,000.

Orlando suffered a 109-97 defeat at seventh-seeded Philadelphia on Wednesday night. The loss allowed the 76ers to advance to face second-seeded Boston in the first round of the actual playoffs, while Orlando is in a win-or-go home game against Charlotte tonight. Desmond Bane scored a game-high 34 points (10-16 FG, 4-6 3Pt, 10-11 FT) for Orlando in the loss. Unfortunately, he received little help from his fellow starters, who combined to go 14-49 (28.6%) from the floor.

Beginning in the 2004-05 season, an NBA franchise returned to the city of Charlotte for a second time. The NBA originally rewarded Charlotte a franchise (the Charlotte Hornets) in 1988, but the Hornets left for New Orleans in May 2002. The second iteration of Charlotte’s NBA franchise — the Bobcats, now Hornets — struggled mightily for 21 seasons (2005-2025) prior to this season as they only made 3 playoff appearances over those 21 seasons.

The 2025-26 season appeared to heading nowhere as well for Charlotte after they started the year 4-14. Leading scorer Brandon Miller suffering a left shoulder subluxation (partial dislocation) in the second game of the season, which kept him out for about a month, played a big role in Charlotte’s dismal start. His return in late-November provided somewhat of a spark for the team as they were a few games below .500 with him over the next 6 weeks.

But Charlotte really took off in late-January, a 124-97 rout at Orlando on Jan. 22 ignited a 9-game winning streak — the franchise’s longest winning streak since the 1998-99 season. Charlotte went 14-6 over the next 20 games and upped their record to 39-34 on March 26. The Hornets ended the year 44-38. Charlotte’s 44 wins is a 25-game improvement of last season, and their most wins since the 2015-16 campaign (48-34).

The excellent play from the foursome of the aforementioned Brandon Miller (team-leading 20.2 ppg, 4.9 rebs, 1 stl, 3.1 threes,  38.5% from 3 in 65 gms), flashy point guard LaMelo Ball (20.1 ppg, 7.1 asts, 4.8 rebs, 1.2 stls, 3.8 threes in 72 gms), sharpshooting rookie phenom Kon Knueppel (18.5 ppg, 5.3 rebs, 3.4 threes, 47.5% from 2, 42.5% from 3 in 81 gms) and forward Miles Bridges (17.1 ppg, 5.8 rebs, 1.9 threes, 46% from 2 in 77 gms) was the catalyst for Charlotte’s tremendous turnaround this season.

All four players were drafted in the lottery by Charlotte and quickly became formidable NBA players. Selecting the right players was key for Charlotte because they had whiffed on a number of lottery picks over a 15-year period which led to their futility on the court. The Hornets selected Kon Knueppel fourth overall (Duke) in the 2025 NBA Draft. The 20-year-old, Duke product set the NBA rookie and franchise record for three-pointers made in a season with 261.

Kon Knueppel (+135) is in a neck and neck race with college roommate (Duke) Cooper Flagg (-175) to win the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year Award. That’s quite an accomplishment for Knueppel when you consider Flagg was one of the most hyped draft picks in recent history and Knueppel was (+2000) to win Rookie of the Year prior to the season.

Two seasons ago (2023-24), the Orlando Magic were one of the NBA’s biggest surprises when they finished 47-35 and secured the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Orlando’s 47 wins was a 13-game improvement over the previous season. Orlando’s resurgence was led by the talented young trio of Paolo Banchero (age 21), Franz Wagner (22) and Jalen Suggs (22). The Magic looked to be a team on the rise with a limitless future.

Fast forward to today (two calendar years later), and the Orlando Magic have not come close to duplicating the success they experienced in 2024. They dropped to 41-41 last year, made it out of the Play-In Tournament as the seventh seed only to get dispatched by second-seeded Boston 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs. Orlando improved to 45-37 this year, but spent most of the year hovering around .500 and are on the brink of being eliminated in the Play-In Round.

Injuries to the talented young trio of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs played a huge role in Orlando underperforming over the last two seasons. During the 2023-24 season, Banchero (80 gms played), Wagner (72 gms) and Suggs (75 gms) were durable which led to great success. The talented trio has spent lengthy amounts of time on the injured list over the last two seasons which has disrupted the team’s continuity.

Prior to the season in June, Orlando made the unexpected and bold move of trading for Memphis Grizzlies star shooting guard Desmond. Orlando paid a steep price for Bane, giving up four first round picks to acquire him. Bane established himself as one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA during his time in Memphis. He was expected to be a final piece to a championship puzzle for Orlando, but the barrage of injuries prevented any chance of a championship run for the Magic this season.

Through all of the injuries that Orlando has endured this season, the duo of Paolo Banchero (22.2 ppg, 8.4 rebs, 5.2 asts, 1.2 threes, 45.9% from 2 in 72 gms) and the newly-acquired Desmond Bane (20.6 ppg, 5.2 rebs, 2 threes, 48.4% from 2, 39.1% from 3 in 82 gms) has been excellent. Orlando selected Banchero with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft and he’s averaged over 20 ppg in all four of his NBA seasons. Bane continued his efficient scoring in his debut season with Orlando by averaging over 20 ppg on outstanding shooting splits from the field and from long distance.

With Orlando failing to duplicate the success they achieved in the 2023-24 season and struggling to get out of the Play-In Round for a second straight year, there are rumblings that a star player (Banchero?) is disgruntled with the direction of the team and head coach Jamahl Mosley will be fired after the season. If Orlando gives another lackluster effort tonight at home, we could see some changes to the team in the offseason.

Orlando’s season appears to be in a tailspin after losing by double digits at Philadelphia on Wednesday in the Play-In Tournament and suffering an embarrassing 113-108 loss at Boston in the regular season finale where the Celtics rested their top 6 rotation players. I think the upstart Hornets knock off the flailing Magic tonight. Lay the Points and take the Hornets!