Coach Jamahl Mosley ejected as Magic fall to host Hornets, 130-111
Magic coach Jamahl Mosely stressed the importance of Orlando slowing down the Hornets from 3-point range and in transition when speaking with the media ahead of Thursday’s game at Charlotte. The Magic failed to accomplish both tasks, and Mosley was unavailable for more than half the contest inside Spectrum Center. With Orlando trailing by 15 points and roughly five minutes left in the second quarter, Mosley was ejected from the game after protesting a non-call against the Hornets.
The Magic allowed 72 points in the first half, fell down by 19 at the break and never recovered in a 130-111 loss against the Hornets, who outrebounded Orlando 41-31. “When you’re playing a team like that, you give them an inch and they take a mile,” Magic guard Desmond Bane said. “You’ve got to be extremely locked in, disciplined on defense … They scored the ball in a variety of ways.
” Both sides entered 7-3 in their last 10 games, but for Orlando, the loss was its third in a row while Charlotte won its second straight. Notching 110 points in the first three quarters, the Hornets (36-34) also secured the four-game regular-season series against the Magic 3-1. The Magic (38-31) return home when the Lakers make their lone trip of the regular season to Kia Center on Saturday.
Mosley ejected Although he’s picked up individual technical fouls in the past, Thursday’s game marked the first time in Mosley’s career that he had been ejected from a game. Mosley picked up his first technical foul for questioning why a foul wasn’t called on the Hornets after Bane (24 points) tried to put back an offensive rebound. From there, Mosley continued to protest the non-call and eventually earned a second technical, resulting in the ejection from head official Scott Foster.
“I’ve got to be better for our group in that situation,” Mosley said about his ejection. “But listen, I thought we went to the basket a couple times, didn’t get a couple calls that were very similar on the other end and just a level of consistency in that. So, that’s what I was fighting for, for our guys to be able to see that if we’re going to play a physical style of basketball, which we do, that I’m OK with it being called on the other end, as long as we’re getting the same call on our end.
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