Charlotte Hornets @ Orlando Magic
Thursday, January 22, 2026 at 7:00 PM ET
Kia Center, Orlando, FL | Game ID: 22500627
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
ORL 20 21 26 30 97CHA 35 27 35 27 124
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Ball back in starting lineup, helps spark fast start as the Hornets beat Magic 124-97
ORLANDO -- — LaMelo Ball returned to Charlotte's starting lineup and had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds as the Hornets beat the Orlando Magic 124-97 on Thursday night.
Ball, who a night earlier had one of the worst shooting performances of his career when he came off the bench as part of a plan to manage his minutes, went 6 for 12 from the field and 4 for 8 from 3-point distance against Orlando. In a loss to Cleveland on Wednesday, the No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft finished with two points on 1-of-15 shooting, including 0 of 10 from 3-point range.
Brandon Miller scored 20 points to lead Charlotte's balanced effort. Collin Sexton came off the bench and scored 12 of his 19 points in the first half, Kon Knueppel and Tidjane Salaunadded added 13 apiece, and Miles Bridges , Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner each scored 10.
Paolo Banchero scored 23 points, and Desmond Bane added 21 for the Magic. Moritz Wagner scored 14, Noah Penda added 13 and Jeff Howard 10.
Back in the starting lineup, Ball played a role in the fast start for the Hornets that was missing against Cleveland a night earlier when they trailed by 21 points in the first quarter. Ball scored eight points in seven minutes on 3-for-3 shooting, including 2 for 2 from distance, as Charlotte led 35-20 after a period.
Ball had 11 points in 15 minutes in the first half as Charlotte built a 62-41 lead by the break with 55% (22 for 41) shooting from the floor, and 48% (11 for 23) from beyond the arc. The Hornets outscored Orlando 35-26 in the third and extended their lead to 30 points with a period remaining on the way to their fourth victory in nine games.
The Magic struggled throughout, shooting 33% (13 for 40), including 5 for 19 (26%) from distance in the first half.
Orlando was without guard Jalen Suggs , who missed his eighth straight game due to a right knee injury. Center Moe Wagner was also sidelined due to left knee management and could return to the lineup this weekend.
Up next Hornets: Host the Washington Wizards on Saturday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
ORLAB A. Black
DB D. Bane
GB G. Bitadze
JC J. Cain
JH J. Howard
JI J. Isaac
JR J. Richardson
MW M. Wagner
NP N. Penda
PB P. Banchero
TJ T. Jones
TD T. da Silva
WC W. Carter Jr.
CHABM B. Miller
CS C. Sexton
DI Diabate
JG J. Green
KK K. Knueppel
LB L. Ball
MB M. Bridges
MD M. Diabaté
PC P. Connaughton
RK R. Kalkbrenner
SJ S. James
TS T. Salaün
ORL/CHA the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur