The New Orleans-Oklahoma City Hornets clawed back in Wednesday's game against the Orlando Magic, but it wasn't enough as the Magic snuck out with an 88-83 win.

Orlando led by as many as 12 in the second half, but the Hornets caught fire in the fourth quarter off two Desmond Mason dunks. They cut the lead to three late but couldn't stop Orlando's Steve Francis.

Both teams had strong bench support, especially the Hornets. Speedy Claxton led all scorers off the bench, pacing the Hornets with 24 points and six assists.

Mason, Wednesday's crowd pleaser, was a spark off the bench. He had 12 points and had three impressive dunks in the second half.

Rookie Chris Paul continued to improve, running the offense and scoring 10 points. He helped lead comebacks in the first and second half for the Hornets, but head coach Byron Scott said Paul and his teammates are still young and learning.

"We win a big game, and instead of coming home and trying to take advantage of that and get momentum going, we take a step back," Scott said. "We kind of sit around waiting to see how they are going to play instead of going out and being the aggressor."

Francis was unstoppable during most of the game. He attacked the hole and stuck around for clean-up rebounds. He scored 24 points on the night.

Dwight Howard also helped the Magic, scoring 16 points and stifling P.J. Brown.

The Magic also got support from its bench, most notably Jameer Nelson. He came into Wednesday's game early in the first quarter and played the majority of his time at point guard. He helped free up Francis on the court.

The Hornets were plagued by Orlando runs. Early in the first quarter, the Hornets led 6-0, but were then attacked with a 19-6 run by the Magic that set the tone of the game.

In the second quarter, the Hornets took a brief lead, but Howard scored a dunk late in the half to put the Magic up 41-40.

Early in the second half, the Hornets were blitzed by another 16-2 run from the Magic, trailing by 12 at one point. OKC made a run and got back in the game, but the Hornets never overcame the deficits.

Claxton was named the Gatorade Sixth Man of the Game for his performance. However, he said the end of the game was the biggest disappointment, when the Magic were able to come up with two key rebounds.

"Those last two were huge," Claxton said. "It seemed like we were always a step behind tonight."

The Hornets get two days off before hosting Dallas on Saturday at the Ford Center.
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