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Balanced Hornets take down Magic

Mar 2, 2015 - 3:36 AM Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Mo Williams had 23 points while dishing out 11 assists Sunday as the Charlotte Hornets beat the Orlando Magic 98-83.

All five Hornets starters reached double figures in points, with Al Jefferson, Gerald Henderson and Cody Zeller each scoring 16.

"When you play great defense, sometimes teams do score, but if you play it consistently for 48 minutes, you're going to get stops," Jefferson said.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist posted 11 points and 13 rebounds as Charlotte won for just the second time in its last eight games.

Victor Oladipo led Orlando with 21 points. Tobias Harris added 13 points and nine rebounds in the Magic's third straight loss.

"Tough game overall," said Oladipo. "We just have to move on to the next one."

The Magic trailed by only one at halftime, but fell behind by 15 in the third quarter because of poor shooting. They went 6-of-19 from the floor (31.6 percent) in the game's penultimate 12-minute segment.

Charlotte took a 71-60 advantage into the fourth quarter and had its lead trimmed to four twice. Ben Gordon hit a pullup jumper to draw Orlando within 74-70 with 7:16 remaining.

The Hornets, however, responded with an 8-0 run to regain control.

Game Notes

Charlotte shot 50 percent for the game ... Willie Green and Andrew Nicholson each had 11 points for the Magic ... The Hornets host the Lakers on Tuesday ... Orlando's largest lead of the entire contest was by a single point.