Al Horford rocks the court at Philips Arena with game-high 24 points and the Atlanta Hawks rolled to a 91-81 victory over the new-look Orlando Magic in presence of more than 16,000 basketball fans.
The new-look Magic entered the court with Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson, and Hedo Turkoglu in the crew. However, their new trade acquisitions did not work a lot as they lost eleventh game of the season.
"They're out there trying hard. They just...none of them played well," "Nobody could shoot the ball. I think they've got a lot of emotion and stuff going on -- it was just a tough night," Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy said of his new players.
High-flying players
The Hawks had better balance with five scorers in double figures. Joe Johnson registered 17 points and grabbed 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Mike Bibby contributed 15 points, while Josh Smith and Marvin Williams each had 12 in the season’s eighteenth victory
of Hawks.
Dwight Howard posted team-high 19 points and 20 rebounds for the Magic in the defeat. Jameer Nelson added 18 points and Brandon Bass scored 13 for Magic, who have lost seven of eight game.
First quarter
Both teams started ice cold, however the Hawks controlled every aspect of the game from the beginning, leading 20-14 after first quarter.
Horford of Hawks leads all scorers with 8 points.
The biggest lead of Hawks was 20-12, with 01:08 to go in the first.
Second quarter
In the second quarter, Hawks got it going offensively and maintained a 43-38 lead at halftime.
Howard and Bass combined for 20 points in the first half.
Third quarter
In the third quarter, the Magic put together a 14-3 burst to tie the game. However, Atlanta began to pull away the game and closed the period with a 10-3 run to lead 65-58 entering the final period.
Fourth quarter
Atlanta controlled the shots and scored seven of the fourth quarter's first nine points. Johnson provided a 71-60 cushion with less than 10 minutes left. Orlando tried best to make the score respectable one but failed to make a field goal for nearly the
first eight minutes of the fourth, as the Hawks led by as many as 18 in the final period.
Atlanta’s Al Horford said of the Magic, "With the trade, (it's a whole different situation), but they still the same kind of players that want to shoot the ball from the outside," "It's just a different personnel, but I feel like it's a very similar team."
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