Marcus Thornton scored a season-high 22 points Wednesday, including a go-ahead jumper with 37 seconds left in overtime, leading the New Orleans Hornets to a 92-89 victory over the Orlando Magic, who had a nine-game winning streak snapped.
Orlando, which had not lost since Dec. 21, fell one short of a team record for consecutive wins.
Dwight Howard, who had 29 points and 20 rebounds, missed two free throws with 11.6 seconds remaining and the Magic trailing, 90-89. Thornton's two foul shots with 8.2 seconds left put the Hornets up three.
Orlando called timeout to set up a tying shot, but J.J. Redick's 3-pointer was an airball.
Hedo Turkoglu's 3-pointer with 6.9 seconds remaining capped a furious comeback by the Magic from a 79-72 deficit in the final minute of regulation. Jason Richardson hit two 3-pointers around a free throw by Emeka Okafor. When Chris Paul split a pair from the line, he left the door open for Turkoglu to tie it.
New Orleans' David West missed a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer and the game went into overtime.
Thornton was pressed into service when starting guard Marco Belinelli sprained his right ankle a little over a minute into the game and did not return.
Okafor scored 18 points and Trevor Ariza added 16 for New Orleans (23-16). Paul had 12 points and 13 assists.
Richardson scored 21 points for Orlando (25-13).
Orlando | New Orleans | |
Dwight Howard 29 | Scoring | Marcus Thornton 22 |
Jameer Nelson 10 | Assists | Chris Paul 13 |
Dwight Howard 20 | Rebounds | Emeka Okafor 14 |
Dwight Howard 3 | Free Throws Made | Marcus Thornton 6 |
Gilbert Arenas 1 | Steals | Trevor Ariza 2 |
Ryan Anderson 2 | Blocks | David West 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Orlando | 89 | 39.1 | 12-31 | 5-10 | 19 | 50 | 4 | 3 | 14 |
New Orleans | 92 | 43.7 | 5-18 | 11-19 | 23 | 50 | 2 | 4 | 11 |