NBA Game Summary - Charlotte at Orlando

Orlando, FL (Basketball News) - Emeka Okafor recorded his 36th double-double of the season as the Charlotte Bobcats beat Orlando, 108-94, dealing another blow to the Magic’s playoff aspirations.

Okafor netted 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Charlotte, which earned its second win in four days against Orlando and won its second season series of the year after improving to 3-1 versus Orlando. The Bobcats also went 2-0 against Houston this season.

With the win, Charlotte snapped a 12-game road losing streak and notched its first road victory against an Eastern Conference team this season. However, the victory was only the expansion franchise’s third in its last 17 games.

Gerald Wallace had 22 points and nine boards, Primoz Brezec contributed 20 points and seven rebounds and Brevin Knight scored 15 points to go along with 15 assists and eight steals in the victory. Knight has posted back-to-back 15 assist games.

Grant Hill scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Magic, who are currently in ninth place in the Eastern Conference playoff standings — 1-1/2 games behind Philadelphia for the final postseason spot. Philadelphia, which did not play on Thursday, returns to action Friday against Toronto.

DeShawn Stevenson scored a season-high 23 points, while Jameer Nelson added 18 points, a career-high 13 assists and seven rebounds for Orlando, which has lost nine of its last 10 games. Dwight Howard also had a double-double with 14 points and 15 boards for the Magic.

Charlotte played the role of front-runner for most of the game and came into the fourth quarter with a two-point advantage, 75-73. The Bobcats put the game away with an 11-2 run that stretched their lead to double digits, 94-84, with a little more than four minutes remaining.

Orlando, which was outscored 33-21 in the fourth quarter, never threatened again.

Trailing by two points coming out of halftime, Orlando opened the third quarter on a 9-6 burst to take its first lead since the opening minute of the game, 60-59, with a little less than nine minutes to play in the frame. However, both teams netted 22 points during the quarter and the Bobcats continued to lead by two, 75-73.

Behind seven points from Okafor and six from Brezec, Charlotte jumped out to a 21-9 lead midway through the first quarter. Orlando responded with a quarter- closing 18-8 run to find itself down 29-27 after 12 minutes.

The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with Orlando trimming the deficit to one point before heading into intermission trailing 53-51 after Nelson swished a three-pointer from the baseline.