Jannero Pargo hits 5 three’s as Atlanta Hawks crush Orlando Magic 109-81 - NBA Recap
On Friday night at the Amway Center, Orlando, FL, the visiting Atlanta Hawks routed Dwight Howard less Orlando Magic 109-81 to strengthen their charge toward the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference which will give them
the home court advantage in the first round of playoffs.
Orlando were devastated before the game even started, with the news that Howard might be done for even the playoffs after a herniated disc was diagnosed in his back. It was quite obvious that Orlando seem to struggle in the absence
of their big man. They have now lost four of the five games he has missed.
Jannero Pargo came off the bench to achieve a game high of 17 points, 15 of which came from beyond the arc. Marvin Williams was not far behind with 16 points as two other players scored 16 for the Hawks - Joe Johnson and Josh Smith.
Tracy McGrady and Jerry Stackhouse came off the bench to contribute 11 points each as six players for the Hawks finished the night in double scoring figures.
Glen Davis who has been starting at the centre position in Howard’s absence managed to score 16 points and also grabbed 9 rebounds. Von Wafer was the only one other player in double figures with 16 points for Orlando.
Magic had 9 other players featuring in the game; however the rest of roster failed to make much impact in the game as none of them managed to score more than 9 points on the night. They combined together for 49 points and shot
the ball a poor 19 off 61 in the game.
Orlando, were able to keep the scores equal only for about the opening 3 and a half minutes, when the score were tied at 8.
Hawks then scored 6 unanswered points to take the lead, 14-8. Richardson responded back on the next trip to make it a one possession game. However the Hawks were looking to stomp their authority into this one early as they closed
the quarter by adding 22 more points to their tally while only allowing 11 to the Magic.
Hawks continued their onslaught in the second and extended their advantage to as much as 20 at the end of the first half, 62 - 42.
The second half followed the same script as the Hawks’ advantage never got below double digits. Atlanta remained way ahead in the contest and by the end of the third they had extended their amble advantage to 25 points, 89-64.
Hawks who had never trailed in the matchup were able to extend their lead to as much as 35 with the score of 109-74 and 4:48 still remaining in the game. Atlanta took their foot off the pedal in the closing stages as they failed
to score for the remainder of the game and committed a few silly turnovers.
However despite their complacent finish, they were still able to win this one by a margin of 28 points.
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