May’s career night paces Bobcats past Magic

Adam Morrison added 22 points and seven rebounds, while Emeka Okafor tallied 13 points and 11 boards for the Bobcats, who snapped a four-game skid. May went 9-of-15 from the field, made 14-of-17 foul shots and pulled down six rebounds.

It was a big change for Morrison from his previous four home games. He went 4- of-34 from the floor in home contests against Detroit, San Antonio, Houston and Phoenix from December 3-10, but on Thursday he made 7-of-12 shots.

"We were pretty consistent in terms of decisions we made and sharing the basketball," Charlotte coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. "We found the hot hand and we finished with authority."

Keyon Dooling had 20 points to pace Orlando, which has dropped three in a row and five of its last six contests. Travis Diener added 16 points for the Magic.

"We had 23 turnovers. You’re not going to win many games when you turn the ball over that many times," Orlando coach Brian Hill said.

The Magic led 18-15 after the opening quarter, but the Bobcats surged ahead for good with a big second quarter. May’s two free throws boosted the Bobcats to a 25-23 lead with 8:28 to go until the half and Okafor followed with a blocked shot of a Trevor Ariza layup, and jammed at the other end for a four- point margin.

Charlotte held a 45-38 lead at the half and continued to widen the cushion early in the third. Two more foul shots by May moved the score to 51-40 and the Bobcats led by double digits the majority of the remainder of the period, before Darko Milicic’s jumper pulled Orlando within 72-64 going into the fourth.

However, Charlotte had 14 of its 27 points in the final period at the foul line and cruised to victory, leading by as many as 16 in the last quarter. May had eight points in the last quarter, all from the charity stripe.

"A lot of guys can learn a lot by watching Sean May in the low post," Hill said.

Game Notes

The Magic played without Keith Bogans (sprained right ankle), Jameer Nelson (strained right groin) and Hedo Turkoglu (sprained right ankle)...Raymond Felton and Gerald Wallace each had 12 points for the Bobcats. Wallace also had six steals...Carlos Arroyo had 13 points and Dwight Howard ended with 10 points and 12 boards for the Magic.