Josh Smith soars for 22 as Atlanta Hawks hand 83 – 78 defeat to Orlando Magic – NBA Recap
The Atlanta Hawks recorded an 83 – 78 win over the Orlando Magic here at the Philips Arena with a polished display. The Hawks took command early and looked comfortable for the majority of the game, surviving a late surge from the Magic to secure their win.
Hawks forward Josh Smith, who was overlooked once more for the All-Star game, continued his terrific run of form with a double-double performance comprising game high 22 points and 12 rebounds. Smith said he was fired up for because of the rivalry between
the two sides.
"We understood the importance of this game," Smith said. "They dominated us for so many years. We wanted to try to be able to return the favour."
He got plenty of support too. Jannero Pargo came off the bench to contribute 15 points, Willie Green had 14 and Jeff Teague finished with 13.
For the Magic, it was a very disappointing night. Orlando’s energy seemed lacking all night long and the team didn’t really look up for the game from the start. Head Coach Stan Van Gundy wasn’t pleased at all with the effort, and made it clear after the
game.
"I've been saying it to you guys, and I come of as negative all the time . . . we don't play hard enough. We just don't. We're not going to be anywhere near contenders in the East unless we're going to play hard all the time, and we just don't. Simple as
that. I'm not really interested in the reasons. I'm just interested in getting it done."
Orlando’ super star centre Dwight Howard was held to just 12 points and 12 rebounds in the game. The team high was just 13, coming from J.J. Redick, while Ryan Anderson and Hedo Turkoglu also made it into double digits.
The Hawks were quicker out of the blocks, racing out to a 9 – 4 lead at the start. A 6 – 0 burst then took them to 15 – 6, before the Magic clawed the deficit down to 15 – 12. They were however unable to rein in the Hawks as the first quarter progressed,
and at the end were staring at a 9 point gap, score 29 – 20.
The second fragment started with a flurry with both sides scoring freely, but it the points soon dried up and it turned out to be a frustrating quarter. The Magic could only manage one basket after the first three minutes, while the Hawks scored 13 in the
same period, going into half time with a double digit advantage, 47 – 30.
Orlando showed urgency coming out of the break. They started strong and looked aggressive throughout the period. The Hawks struggled with their offence, netting just 11 points in the 3rd segment, whereas the Magic had 25. With the final period
approaching, Orlando were in with a shout at 58 – 55.
The Magic, buoyed by their strong showing in the previous segment, took the fight to Atlanta in the penultimate round, and chased them down to within one point at 69 – 68, 4:32 left to play.
The Hawks responded with an 8 – 3 burst though that knocked the wind out of Orlando. The Magic didn’t look menacing afterwards and Atlanta secured the 83 – 78 win.
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