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Hornets, Magic meet in Orlando

Mar 1, 2015 - 2:17 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Orlando Magic will try to put the brakes on a two- game losing streak Sunday night when the Charlotte Hornets stop by the Amway Center.

The Magic dropped two straight after a three-game winning streak, but return home for four in a row. Charlotte, Phoenix, Sacramento and Boston visit Orlando during this stretch.

After three home wins in a row, the Magic fell to the Miami Hat in overtime on Wednesday. They hit the road and lost to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, 95-88.

Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 15 boards to pace Orlando versus Atlanta. Victor Oladipo scored 19, Tobias Harris netted 15, and Channing Frye totaled 10 points in defeat.

Jeff Teague's running layup gave the Hawks the lead for good at 58-56 with 6:50 left in the third period.

"It was another disappointing quarter defensively, but I loved how we kept fighting," Magic coach James Borrego said.

Atlanta was up as many as 10 in the fourth before the Magic closed within 89-86 on Vucevic's jumper with 90 seconds left. Orlando then caught a break when Paul Millsap lost the ball in the lane was called for an offensive foul for plowing into Oladipo.

Vucevic, though, missed a short bank shot at the other end, and Teague drained a floater in the lane with 44.4 seconds left.

Following an air ball 3-pointer from Frye, Al Horford cemented the win when he slammed home Teague's miss with 19.4 seconds remaining.

The Hornets have dropped six of their last seven. After a great win in Chicago on Wednesday, Charlotte lost in Boston, 106-98, on Friday night. The Hornets complete this four-game trek on Sunday.

Mo Williams paced the Hornets with 31 points. Every Hornets starter reached double figures, with Al Jefferson and Gerald Henderson each adding 14 points, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scoring 12 with 11 rebounds and Cody Zeller netting 11.

The Hornets' bench scored just 16 points, compared to 60 from the Celtics.

Charlotte led by 16 with under four minutes to go in the third quarter. The Celtics took the lead with 5 1/2 minutes to play.

The Hornets would only hit one more shot from the floor and needed free throws to remain in the game. They cut their deficit to 96-95 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining, but Boston's Jae Crowder pulled down an offensive board and hit a 3 to spark a 9-0 Boston run that put the game out of reach.

"We got away from what we were doing," said Jefferson.

The Magic won two of three this season against the Hornets, but Charlotte is 4-1 in its last five in Orlando.