Welcome to preseason basketball, a place where Jeremy Lin and Andrew Nicholson lead games in scoring. Nicholson is notorious for big preseason performances. Last preseason, he made a game-winning shot against the Miami Heat. This preseason, he came out and put up 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting from the field. Two of his three shots from downtown found nylon as well. As for Lin, he’s just really good at coming out of nowhere and scoring a lot more than expected.

The Magic began the game with hot shooting, solid defense, and something they’ve lacked for a long time - good ball/player movement. Victor Oladipo found the bottom of the net on a triple for Orlando’s first points of the preseason. Tobias Harris showed that he deserves the big contract he received over the summer by displaying some consistent shooting, going 3 for 4 from the field, good for seven points. Victor Oladipo led the Magic in scoring with 13 points at the half.

The Charlotte Hornets showed no hesitation to shoot in the first half. They put up 17 triples with only five finding nylon. Nicolas Batum led the Hornets in scoring with 11 points at the break. At halftime, the Hornets trailed, 51-48.

The start to the second half was very kind to the Hornets as they went on a 22-9 run to take a 10-point lead. Despite a hot first half, the Magic came out of halftime very cold. The lead eventually reached 14 points and the Magic looked like the Magic of old. Andrew Nicholson came out with his signature monster preseason game and finished the third quarter with 18 points. The Hornets held a nine-point lead, 85-76,  heading into the final period of play.

Nicholson continued his domination into the fourth quarter. He tacked on five more points early to bring his scoring total to 23 points. Devyn Marble followed that with a steal leading to a Keith Applying layup and the Magic brought the game within five. Having none of it, Jeremy Lin drained a three-pointer to give the Hornets an eight-point lead. That triple brought Lin’s scoring total to 13 points. The Magic eventually brought the game to within three, but Lin continued his deflation of the Magic’s hopes, scoring two on a strong drive. Scott Skiles elected to finish the game with a lineup of Keith Appling, C.J. Watson, Devyn Marble, Melvin Ejim and Nnanna Egwu. For Steve Clifford, it was Jeremy Lin, Jeremy Lamb, Brian Roberts, Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky.

Rookies Mario Hezonja and Frank Kaminsky each made their debuts for their respective NBA teams. Hezonja showed the ability to take and make jumpers in bunches, shooting 4 of 6 from the field and 1 for 2 from deep. Hezonja’s first attempt came in the form of a triple from the right wing. It was a clean make and his career began with perfection. Kaminsky didn’t check in until late in the game, but he still finished with seven points on 3 of 6 shooting.

Charlotte’s new additions played well, for the most part. Nic Batum had 14 points. Jeremy Lamb finished with 16, while Spencer Hawes struggled to score as only one of his five shot attempts resulted in a made shot.

For Orlando, Jason Smith showed a consistent mid-range jumper. Four of his eight attempts were good as he finished with 10 points. C.J. Watson had a rough night offensively. He shot 20 percent from deep and 20 percent from the field. The night also wasn’t very good for Shabazz Napier, who finished with two points on four attempts.

The DNP’s for the game were Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Greg Stiemsma for Orlando and Troy Daniels, Tyler Hansbrough, Aaron Harrison, Sam Thompson and Elliot Williams for Charlotte.

The Orlando Magic are now 0-1 in preseason action, while the Charlotte Hornets improve to 1-0.