Turnovers the Charlotte Hornets’ undoing on road against Orlando Magic

Throughout coach Steve Clifford’s time with the Charlotte Hornets, the formula has read “low-turnover, low-foul.”

They did a decent job Wednesday avoiding fouls, but the turnovers robbed them of any chance versus the Orlando Magic. The Hornets committed seven giveaways in the first quarter alone. They finished with 16, resulting in 25 Magic points in a 113-98 loss at Amway Center.

The Magic led by as many as 25 points. The Hornets’ biggest lead was one.

The Hornets dropped to 14-10 and have a challenging second game of a back-to-back Thursday. They host the Toronto Raptors, who had Tuesday and Wednesday off from games and were waiting back in Charlotte.

P.J. Hairston scored a season-high 14 points for the Hornets and Jeremy Lamb had 16.

The Magic improved to a surprising 14-11, contending for an Eastern Conference playoff spot in coach Scott Skiles’ first season in that job.

Three who mattered

Nik Vucevic: For whatever reason, the Magic’s starting center always plays well versus the Hornets.

Elfrid Payton: He played excellent defense on Hornets point guard Kemba Walker (4-of-12 from the field).

Lamb: He made his first six shots on a bad night for the Hornets overall.

Observations

▪  Hornets center Al Jefferson (calf strain) was cleared medically to play Wednesday, so the game in Orlando counted as the first of five he’ll miss while serving an NBA suspension. Jefferson will be eligible to play again Dec. 26 in the home game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

▪  Jefferson is allowed to practice while on suspension, but the Hornets won’t practice much in a span when they’ll play five games in eight days, three of those on the road. Coach Steve Clifford said getting Jefferson back in game shape following his injury will be more about him working individually with assistant coaches and the strength-and-conditioning staff.

▪  Hornets guard Nic Batum became ill in the third quarter and spent the rest of the game in the locker room.

▪  The Hornets have the best net ratiing in the Eastern Conference at plus-5.8 points per game. Net rating gauges a team’s offense per 100 possessions and its defense per 100 possesions. Only three teams have better net ratings: The Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.

▪  At 17 points per game, Batum has the highest scoring average this season for veterans who changed teams. Milwaukee’s Greg Monroe is second at 16.2.

Worth mentioning

▪  Hairston played in the second half despite having a sore right foot.

▪  Hairston scored nine first-quarter points, then sat out the second quarter.

▪  Clifford inserted Tyler Hansbrough in the second quarter to offer some physicality against Vucevic.

Report card

D OFFENSE: This team has to be low-turnover and that sure wasn’t the case Wednesday.

D DEFENSE: When the game was decided the Magic shot better than 50 percent from the field and 3-point range.

C- COACHING: They had three days off between games, yet looked flat against a Southeast Division foe.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Turnovers the Charlotte Hornets’ undoing on road against Orlando Magic."