Atlanta Hawks beat Orlando Magic 88-85, 3-1 in the series: NBA Playoffs 2010-11 (Part 1)
Jamal Crawford is peaking at the right moment for the Atlanta Hawks. He had another big game off the Hawk’s bench for the second time in a week as the Atlanta Hawks sent the Orlando Magic back home disappointed, 88-85. Crawford had 25 points and six rebounds
as the Magic struggled in Game 4 of the first-round Eastern Conference series on Sunday night at the Philips Arena.
The head coach for Orlando, Stan Van Gundy, praised Crawford and said, "Jamal is playing with unbelievable confidence. Everything he throws up, he knows it's going in. We are at the opposite end of the spectrum. We have a lot of guys throwing it up, and
they have no idea if it's going in."
The Hawks were amazing in the first quarter as they stretched their lead to as many as 10 points with two minutes to go in the quarter. Orlando fought hard and cut the deficit to four in the next few seconds. However, Crawford knocked down two important
shots in the closing seconds to put the Hawks ahead by 25-17 after 12 minutes.
In the tightly contested fourth quarter, the Hawks were looking for a player to get them the badly needed win. With the shot clock winding down, the dazzling Joe Johnson hit four crucial free throws that put away the Magic for good.
Van Gundy called a pointless timeout and the team staggered to their bench, not believing what they had just seen. The Hawks not only faced superstar Dwight Howard but they also dealt with an unexpected roadblock; a hostile environment on its home court.
Sizzling Atlanta maintained their composure, leading the best-of-seven series 3-1.
Johnson also added 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Atlanta, who ended the regular season at 44-38.
Later, when asked about the pair contribution of Crawford and Johnson, the Hawks forward Josh Smith sounded proud and said, "That is what they get paid for. We rely on Joe and Jamal to get it done in tough situations, They answered the bell again."
Centre-forward Al Horford played a fruitful game with 14 points and 12 rebounds while Kirk Hinrich also scored 14 points in the victory. The 25-year-old Smith grabbed 10 rebounds for the Hawks.
Howard, as usual, led the way for Orlando with a game-high 29 points and 17 rebounds. The Magic star did all he could in the series, averaging 39.5 points per game. However, his individual performance is not enough to put up with the high flying Hawks. Gilbert
Arenas came off the bench with 20 points and five rebounds and forward Brandon Bass ended with 11 points for the Magic.
The Hawks will have a chance to close it out on the road on Tuesday.
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