Josh Smith and Al Horford carry Atlanta Hawks to a 86-80 win over Orlando Magic: NBA Recap
Josh Smith and Al Horford combined for 29 points and 24 rebounds to carry Atlanta Hawks to an 86-80 victory over the Orlando Magic, their 10th win in the last 12 games.
"I think this year we're playing at our best together. And now with us being forced to carry a bigger part of the offense, it forces us to be more aggressive offensively and keep finding each other." Horford on his chemistry with
Smith.
Jeff Teague led the Hawks with a night high 16 points, Josh Smith also posted 16 points along with 11 rebounds to complete his double-double while Al Horford had 13 points and the same number of rebounds.
Arron Afflalo scored 16 points, Jameer Nelson added 12 while Glen Davis chipped in with 10 points for the Magic who have now lost eight straight games to Atlanta Hawks, including twice this season.
The Hawks were cruising midway around the game before the Magic rallied late in the game to give them a run for their money in the fourth quarter.
"Orlando made us fight for it," Horford said. "Even when you thought they were out of the game, they just kept coming."
Atlanta got off to a dream start and raced to 10-0 early. Nikola Vucevic made a jumper to open up the Magic account but the Hawks were pulling ahead on break neck speed and a Devin Harris layup had them up 16-2 around the mid quarter
mark. The Magic came back later in the period and had cut the deficit down to 15-20 by the end of it.
Orlando kept the Hawks in check early in the second quarter and a Glen Davis jumper had them trailing by just 21-24. A J.J. Redick jump shot put the Magic ahead but the Hawks started pulling ahead and closed the period with a 9-0
run to go into the locker room leading 46-34.
Jeff Teague sank a three pointer to put the Hawks up 49-36 early in the second half. A 9 nil spurt then cemented their authority on 57-38. They kept their advantage for a while before two back to back three pointers followed up
by a free throw reduced the Magic deficit down to 58-66.
The Hawks started off the fourth period on a strong note and were up 76-60 early. However, the Magic were not to go down without a fight. They dug in deep and made it a 6 point game deep in the frame. That was the closest they
got though, and the Hawks recovered from their tight loss to Miami Heat.
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