Atlanta Hawks ease past Orlando Magic 81-72: NBA Recap
Atlanta Hawks took some time to find their rhythm, but once they did, they had little trouble cruising past Orlando Magic here at Philips Arena Monday night. Hawks went on to win 81-72 for their seven straight regular season win
over the Magic.
Al Horford had 15 points and 9 rebounds, Lou Williams was hot again as he came off the bench to add 14 points while Zaza Pachulia chipped in with 8 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks.
Glen Davis led the Magic with 11 points and 7 rebounds as no other Magic player got into double scoring figures in a disappointing shooting performance by the visitors, who shot a partly 37.8 percent from the floor.
The game was pretty even for the first two quarters before the Hawks stole the show in the third and held off the Magic in the last period to emerge victorious.
Jameer Nelson dropped down a three pointer for the Magic in the early going of the first period to tie the score on 7. Magic looked like the better side of the two early on and an E’Twaun Moore running layup jumper put them up
15-10. Atlanta then went for a 6-0 run going ahead 16-15 before Magic scored some late points in the period that had them leading 23-21 by the end of the quarter.
A Glen Davis turnaround fade away shot put the Magic up 27-23 up early but the Hawks went for a 9 for none scoring spree capped off by a Zaza Pachulia tip shot to go up 32-27. Moments later, Jeff Teague made a layup for the Hawks
to push their advantage to 34-28. The Magic snatched the lead with a 6-0 run as they went up 37-35, but the Hawks replied in similar fashion with a 6 for none spree at the end of the period to go into halftime leading 41-37.
Arron Afflalo made a jump shot for the Magic early in the third period that left them trailing 41-43 before the Hawks scored the next five points going up 48-41. Magic made it a three point game on 45-48 after a deuce by Afflalo,
but the Hawks had other plans as they went for an 11-0 burst capped off by a stunning Kyle Korver shot from behind the arc to jump up 59-45. They continued to increase their lead and were leading 65-49 by the end of the period.
Orlando outscored the Hawks by 23-16 in the final period but it served the purpose of damage mitigation only. Atlanta got off to a great start in the final period and a 9-1 run had them up 74-50 in no time. They were cruising on
78-56 at one stage when the Magic went for a 12-0 burst to slash the deficit down to 68-78, with 2:11 minutes left on the clock. The Hawks however, put brakes on the Magic charge and won 81-72.
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