Dwight Howard “Superman” accelerated Magic’s win over Hawks
A pair of Southeast Division heavyweights clash took place in the new Amway Center when the Orlando Magic played host to the Atlanta Hawks. All-Star center Dwight Howard “Superman” scored a game-high 27 points and electrified the Magic to a 93-89 victory
over the Hawks.
Prominent players
Dwight Howard scored 27 points and added 11 boards. Vince Carter scored five of the Orlando Magic's final seven points and overall he had 19 points, and Jonathan Clay "J. J." Redick 11 points for Orlando.
Joe Johnson poured in 23 points, Al Horford added 16, and standing 6’5”, Jamal Crawford added 14 points for Hawks.
Missing player
NBA All-Star (2009), Jameer Nelson of Orlando remained invisible in the match as he is suffering due to an ankle injury. He did some light shooting in the morning and seemed to be moving fine. Nevertheless, he said there was still some soreness in his sprained
left ankle.
Inspiring player
Jason Williams, playing in place of injured starting point guard Jameer Nelson, drained a go-ahead three-pointer with 4:15 remaining and Rashard Lewis scored less than a minute later to put Orlando on top 86-82.
Alluring point
The most alluring point of the game is that all five Hawks starters hit shots as they opened the game 9-for-11 and led, 19-6.
Play–by–play
The Hawks went ahead by 13 points in the first quarter, getting Howard in foul trouble and using a bigger lineup while on the other hand Orlando’s front lined seemed to be frustrated. In the first quarter Hawks took the initial lead by 23–21, where Smith
contributed 7 points.
However, Orlando came back with a furious push from some unexpected places like backup center where Marcin Gortat, J.J Redick, and Williams injected some life into the game.
The result was a 19-2 run between the first and second quarters that gave the Magic a 29-25 lead. They scored 30 points and took the lead in the second half by 4 points.
Magic were ahead of the Hawks even in the third quarter. Howard headed Magic in the third session by adding 11 more points to his previous 15 points. He played the final few minutes of the session very incredibly, putting Magic ahead 93–89. Magic played
a fabulous game and provided their fans with an opportunity to witness a memorable match.
Turning point of the game
The Hawks made nine of their first 11 shots and had an early 13 point lead, but Vince Carter and Marcin Gortat combined for 10 points for Magic on an 11-0 run to close out the first quarter of the game. Vince Carter added 19 points including five points
in the final 1:12 to secure the win.
Quotable
Josh Smith of the Hawks, "We wanted to show the Orlando Magic that we could come in and make a game of it, and not just hand them the game".
Stan Van Gundy, Magic’s coach said, "I know we're going to shoot the ball well at some point. I know these guys are not 0-for-5, 0-for-4, 0-for-3 guys on a nightly basis from three (point range). But if we're going to continue to fight that hard even when
the shots aren't falling, then we have a chance to be really good".
Up next
Hawks will take on Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at Philips Arena, Atlanta. Orlando Magic, which has a perfect 3-0 record in its new arena, will also face Utah Jazz on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at Amway Center, Orlando.
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