Orlando, FL – Kemba Walker poured in a game-high 25 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists to lead the Charlotte Bobcats to a 106-100 win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday at Amway Center.
Gerald Henderson added 17 points while Hakim Warrick and Ramon Sessions finished with 15 points apiece for the Bobcats, who snapped a five-game losing streak.
"We just attacked and some of the things we did just made sense," said Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap. "Defensively we were getting stops and we were able to run out of that. That is important for us".
Jameer Nelson had 22 points, seven assists and five boards, Arron Afflalo scored 23 and Nikola Vucevic had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Magic, who have dropped 12 of their last 14 contests.
"Defensively I think it was our effort, we didn't play hard enough tonight," Vucevic said. "They came out real aggressive and they really wanted to win this game. We didn't play hard enough."
Henderson scored nine of Charlotte's first 11 points to help the Bobcats take an 11-10 lead early in the first. The teams traded blows until Warrick's layup near the midway point of the frame gave Charlotte a 17-13 lead. The Magic, though, tied the game at 23-23 with 2:37 left and the game was knotted at 28-28 entering the second.
A pair of Bismack Biyombo free throws began a 16-5 run to put Charlotte up 54-43 with just over a minute left in the first half and the Bobcats took a 57-45 lead into the break.
The Magic outscored Charlotte, 26-19, in the third. J.J. Redick's jumper cut the Orlando deficit to 71-68 with just over a minute left in the period, but Jeff Taylor buried a 3-pointer and Sessions banked in a hook shot to give the Bobcats a 76-68 cushion late in the quarter.
Redick, though, added a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 76-71 entering the final frame.
The Bobcats opened the fourth with a 14-6 run, capped with Sessions floater with just under seven minutes left, to take a 90-77 lead.
Orlando countered with a 17-8 run to pull within 98-94 with just over one minute left. Walker buried three consecutive free throws to make it a seven- point game with 28.4 ticks showing and the Magic couldn't get any closer than four the rest of the way.
Game Notes
The Bobcats improved to 5-14 on the road this season ... The Magic lost for just the third time in its last 17 home games against the Bobcats ... Redick scored 13 points and Andrew Nicholson scored 10 points off the bench for Orlando ... Nelson left the game late in the fourth quarter with an apparent knee injury and did not return.
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