Orlando proved themselves tonight with an upset win over Charlotte. They came in as heavy underdogs in the major sports lines, as well as most pundits' predictions, but that hardly mattered to coach Bob and his team. "All they hype was 'Charlotte this; Charlotte that' coming into the game. It's like we didn't even exist. I think we proved our point." That they did, led by the spectacularp play of their star, Durham.

"Coach said that all we had to do was go out and play our best and we could win, and we knew he was right," he said later. "So that's what we did, and we showed that we can play with anyone."

Losing coach Bob was disappointed with his team's effort. "I think we started believing our own press," he said. "Everyone was saying we'd come away with the easy win, so we went in expecting it to be handed to us on a silver platter. But you've got to give credit where it's due, and Bob had his team playing as well as they've played all year."

Orlando was led by Durham (27 points), George (7 points, 12 boards, 1 assists, 2 steals, a block), Small (7 points, 6 boards, 1 assists, a steal, 4 blocks). Charlotte was led by Plungis (22 points, 6 boards, 1 assists, 4 blocks), White (25 points, a steal, a block), Torres (15 points, 6 boards, 1 assists, a block).

Orlando are now 28-34 and 15-15 at home with the win. They hold at #3 in the Southeast and remain at #11 overall in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte fall to 39-24. They stay at #2 in the Southeast and stay at #4 overall in the Eastern Conference.

box score Orlando roster Charlotte roster