Josh Smith stars as Atlanta Hawks edge past Orlando Magic 89-97 - NBA Recap
Atlanta Hawks dominated Orlando Magic in the regular season and the playoffs last season and this season they are looking to do it again.
On Friday night, in what was an overtime thriller, the Hawks held their nerves in the dying moments and used a flurry a free throws to edge past the Magic 89-87, improving their record to 18-9.
The Hawks were cruising to a win, ahead by 78-70 with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game, but in the ensuing passage, Magic made a massive comeback and reeled off a crucial 8-0 spurt, capped by Dwight Howard’s powerful jam
to make it 78 all and send the game into O.T.
Hedo Turkoglu drilled one from the long range in the opening seconds of the extra time to take Magic ahead 81-78 but a 9-2 burst by Hawks in the next few minutes levitated them to a comfortable position at 87-83.
Magic again made a comeback and got as close as 86-87 and just needed to hold the Hawks for few minutes to seal the game. However it was not to be as the Hawks used two free throws down the clutch to deny the Magic a deserved win.
Josh Smith starred for the Hawks with 23 points on 9 for 22 from the floor, 19 rebounds and 5 assists.
"This team knows our offensive and our defensive schemes, and we know their schemes. We just gotta try to outplay them," Smith said afterwards. "Tonight we were able to come in and play up to our ability and play with a certain
kind of physicality."
Joe Johnson pounded 14 points and 5 assists while Marvin Williams and Jeff Teague both accumulated 13 points apiece. Zaza Pachulia, who netted the all crucial last free throws for the Hawks in the O.T, finished with 9 points and
10 boards.
Ryan Anderson led the Magic with 21 points on 8 for 13 from the floor and 9 rebounds. Dwight Howard had 18 points and 18 boards while Jameer Nelson amassed 15 points.
"There's really not too much I can say other than we had opportunities and we could have executed a little better," Magic point guard Jameer Nelson said. "Obviously if we made some shots, it would have been a different story. But
we played hard, I thought, and played together and stuck together."
Jason Richardson chipped in with 14 points whereas Turkoglu added 10 points. Magic committed 16 turnovers in the game which played an important part in their loss.
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