ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic wanted Saturday night to feel like a regular-season game. They wanted to play better defense and redeem themselves against an opponent they’d lost to just two days earlier.
And they did just that. Saved in the final seconds by 20-year-old rookie Cole Anthony after giving up a 23-point lead, the Magic concluded an abbreviated four-game preseason with a 120-117 home victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Orlando now will prepare to open the NBA regular season against the visiting Miami Heat at 7 on Wednesday night.
Anthony scored 19 points for the Magic, behind only Aaron Gordon’s 20 points and nine rebounds.
But Nikola Vucevic, who scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds, revved the offense at the start of the game. Vucevic scored three 3-pointers from the top of the arc in the first 5 minutes. Orlando led 38-27 by the end of the first quarter and maintained a healthy lead through the second quarter to enter halftime up 63-49.
Cohesive offense and an active defense helped the Magic lead through three quarters before everything unraveled in the fourth quarter.
Charlotte went on a 18-0 run — nine of those points scored by point guard Terry Rozier, who finished the night with 24 points, six assists and five rebounds — to take the lead 96-94 with 8:23 left in the game. During that stretch, the Magic missed six shots and committed two personal fouls and a technical.
Devonte’ Graham led the Hornets with 25 points and Miles Bridges had 12 points and 15 rebounds.
A Chuma Okeke dunk sparked a 9-0 Magic run to retake the lead 103-101 and the score remained close in the final minutes.
With about a minute left on the clock, the Magic came out of a timeout trailing 117-113. A 3-pointer from Devin Cannady followed by a floating jump shot from Anthony put the Magic ahead 118-117 with 13 seconds left.
Anthony chased down a rebound and drew a foul to close out the game by hitting two free throws. Charlotte’s Xavier Sneed put up one last attempt at the buzzer, but the missed shot ended the Hornets’ crusade.
