NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- For 45 minutes, the Orlando Magic hung tight with the New Orleans Hornets. Then George Lynch and Baron Davis took over.
Lynch scored seven of his 10 points in the final three minutes and combined with Davis on a key 11-0 run as the Hornets handed the Magic a franchise record-tying 17th straight defeat, 106-91.
Davis collected 27 points and 12 assists and Jamaal Magloire added 18 and 14 rebounds for the Hornets, who also beat the Magic in Orlando on Monday, 100-92.
New Orleans held just a 92-89 lead before Lynch grabbed an offensive rebound and made a layup with 2:54 remaining. Davis added a layup, Lynch a 3-pointer, Davis two free throws and Lynch a pair from the line to make it 103-89 with 54 seconds left, putting away the game.
"We had a game until the last three minutes," Magic coach Johnny Davis said. "They turned up the intensity and we didn't respond."
"We were probably smarter than we have been in other games down the stretch," Hornets coach Tim Floyd said. "I thought we had a good idea about closing the game out, as far as getting the ball to the rim. Our shot selection has been as good as it's been in a few games."
Tracy McGrady scored 29 points, Tyronn Lue chipped in 20 and Drew Gooden had 16 and 12 rebounds off the bench for Orlando, which also lost 17 games from December 4, 1991-January 7, 1992 - the season before drafting Shaquille O'Neal with the top overall pick.
"Right now I'm not even worrying about the streak," McGrady said. "I'm just trying to get these guys to play 48 minutes solid, and I'm just trying to carry this load. And it's a tough task right now. I don't care about that streak right now, and my team shouldn't care about that streak. We've got to get to playing solid basketball for 48 minutes. We've got to get to where we're playing together."
"Hopefully, one of these teams comes out and misses every shot they take," Gooden said. "Every night, you think you've got to get a win to break the streak. We'll keep fighting. That's one thing we will do. We won't lay down."
The Magic are 0-7 since Davis took over for fired coach Doc Rivers. They have not won since beating the New York Knicks on the road in their season opener.
"We're in games," Davis said. "Now we have to finish games."
The start of the fourth quarter was delayed approximately 20 minutes because a male fan behind the New Orleans bench suffered an apparent heart attack. He was taken to a local hospital but his condition is unknown.
The Hornets outscored the Magic in the paint, 58-28, and made 22-of-30 free throws while Orlando sank just 4-of-12. The Magic also committed 19 turnovers.
"It's tough, because they want that victory," Baron Davis said. "They came in and they played their hearts out. They battled and battled until we forced a couple of turnovers that made a nice run (for us)."
