CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Orlando Magic's 2015-16 season ended with a whimper Wednesday night, a 117-103 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
It's often dangerous to read too much into a regular-season finale for a lottery-bound team, but in some ways, the Magic's lackluster performance brought some of the team's deficiencies into sharp relief.
The defense struggled, just as it did throughout January, much of February and most of March. The Magic's long-range shooting was non-existent; they made just eight of their 27 tries from beyond the arc. And for one night at least, the Magic didn't have enough depth to overcome the absence of injured shooting guard Victor Oladipo and limited minutes for center Nikola Vucevic.