Atlanta Hawks defeat Orlando Magic 103-93: NBA Playoffs First Round
Despite a valiant effort from Dwight Howard, the Orlando Magic slumped to a 103-93 defeat against the Atlanta Hawks in the opening game of their National Basketball Association (NBA) first-round playoff series on Saturday night.
Orlando, who are seeded fourth in the Eastern Conference, were in a strong position with home-court advantage and an 8-1 record against the Hawks during the post-season. However, Atlanta controlled the situation at the right time, overcame a monster night
by Howard and walked away with 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Joe Johnson added 25 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Jamal Crawford came off the bench with 23 points and five assists in the victory.
Centre-forward Al Horford posted 16 points and six rebounds, Josh Smith racked up 15 points and eight rebounds, while guard Kirk Hinrich had 13 points and five rebounds for Atlanta.
Only two Orlando players managed to score in double figures. The rest of the players could not manage more than six points. Two of the starters, Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson, finished the game pointless.
Dwight Howard played one of his best games for Orlando, as he tied a career-high 46 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in the defeat. Beside a 46-point spurt, Howard also became Orlando's all-time leader in post-season scoring, as he tied Tracy McGrady for a
franchise playoff record for points in a game.
Guard Jameer Nelson finished with 27 points and six rebounds for the Magic, who finished the regular season with a 52-30 record.
Match Analysis
The Hawks went on a 13-point run in the first five minutes of the opening stanza to take the initial lead. The Magic got their shooting touch back and managed to make it a one-point contest at 17-16 with 31 seconds to go in the first. Hedo Turkoglu then
hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter to put Orlando ahead by 19-17 heading into the second.
The Hawks responded with four unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 21-19 lead. Atlanta outscored Orlando 30-23 in the second, carrying a 55-48 lead into the locker room.
Orlando fought hard in the fourth quarter to make the score a respectable one and managed to reduce the deficit to eight points at 90-98 with two minutes to go in the game. The Hawks went on a 5-3 run in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
Joe Johnson praised his team's performance after the game. He said, "I think we just had to be excited about where we were. We understood that we played this team four times this year and we won three of them. We are a confident group."
He added, "I think the last six games of the season people kinda looked down on us because we lost all six. But now we have a plan. It's coming to fruition and we just have to go out and play together."
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