Game review: Hawks (46-25) 86, Magic (50-22) 84
The Magic, after trailing 78-67 with 5:38 remaining, went on a 17-6 run to tie the game on Vince Carter's three pointer with 9.9 seconds remaining, only to see Atlanta win the game on Josh Smith's put-back dunk off Joe Johnson's miss just before the final buzzer. The Magic wasted a 19 point, 24 rebound, 4 blocks performance from Dwight Howard, and a game high 20 points and 8 assists from Jameer Nelson, as the Hawks defeated the Magic for the first time this season after losing the first three games to the Magic by an average of 23 points.
It looked like the Magic would be on their way to another rout of the Hawks, as they jumped out to a 15-2 lead, as the Hawks made just 1 of their first 11 shots. The Hawks cut their deficit to 22-16 at the end of one. The Magic were able to keep a slim lead for much of the second quarter and led 40-37 with 2:06 in the quarter remaining, but the Hawks ended the half on a 9-2 run to lead 46-42. The Hawks led by as much as 61-50 in the third quarter before the Magic cut their deficit to 68-62 after three. The Hawks extended their lead to 78-67 before the Magic would come back to set up the exciting finish.
Magic leading scorers
Jameer Nelson: 20 points (6 of 13 FGs, 2 of 6 3 PT FGs), 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 turnovers
Dwight Howard: 19 points (4 of 11 FGs, 11 of 16 FTs), 24 rebounds, 4 blocks, 5 turnovers
Vince Carter: 16 points (7 of 16 FGs, 1 of 3 3 PT FGs), 4 assists
Matt Barnes: 12 points (4 of 8 FGs) 2 of 4 3 PT FGs), 7 rebounds
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ATL 40.8% (31 of 76) ORL 37.5% (27 of 72)
3 PT FG%: ATL 53.8% (7 of 13) ORL 28.6% (6 of 21)
FT%: ATL 85% (17 of 20) ORL 77.4% (24 of 31)
REB: ORL 48 (9 offensive) ATL 38 (3 offensive)
AST/TO: ATL 21/11 ORL 20/13
BENCH: ATL 24 ORL 11
Other game notes and stats:
-Six Atlanta players scored in double figures, led by Joe Johnson with 17 points, 8 assists; C Al Horford added 12 points, 11 rebounds
-The Hawks outshot the Magic from the field, the three point line, the free throw line, and had 2 fewer turnovers than the Magic
-Rashard Lewis was the only Magic starter not to score in double figures, as he scored 6 points on 2 of 9 shooting, including 0 for 4 on threes, and failed to block out on Smith's game-winning dunk
-J.J. Redick led the Magic reserves with 5 points, but shot just 1 of 7
-Former Magic G Maurice Evans scored 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting for the Hawks, all in the first half
-Redick and Jason Williams combined to shoot 1 of 10 for the Magic
-The Magic's Mickael Pietrus scored 4 first half points before leaving with an injury with 2:52 remaining in the first half
-The Hawks went 8:45 in the fourth quarter without a field goal, shooting 0 for 7 with 4 turnovers during this span to allow the Magic to get back in the game
-The Magic were 18 of 22 from the FT line in the second half
-Marcin Gortat was called for 3 fouls in 4 scoreless first-half minutes and didn't play in the second half; Brandon Bass played just 6 minutes and scored 2 points
-The Hawks now trail the Magic by 3 1/2 games, while the Magic now trail number one seed Cleveland by 7 games with 10 games remaining
Here is the complete box score and recap from nba.com.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:19 AM
4 Comments:
At 12:47 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Considering how poorly the Magic played after they got out to a 15-2 lead, I was happy with their effort in the final 5 1/2 minutes of the game to forge a tie in the final 10 seconds after trailing by 11 before Smith's game-winning dunk.
Hawks deserve credit for playing a better game than the Magic, as they outshot the Magic from the field, 3 pt line and free throw line, and had fewer turnovers.
Rashard Lewis's string of 3 outstanding games in a row came to a crashing halt against the Hawks, and the Magic bench did not contribute much at all. Hawks had more balanced scoring than the Magic.
I'm a little surprised that Van Gundy didn't try Ryan Anderson at all this game, considering Lewis's struggles throughout the game and Bass's ineffectiveness in the first half, as Anderson did very well earlier in the season against the Hawks.
Well, any faint chance the Magic had of overtaking the Cavaliers for first in the East realistically went out the window with the Cleveland win and the Magic loss; even if the Magic win their remaining 10 games, the Cavs would have to go 3-7 in their remaining games for the Magic to get the top spot.
Magic lost a game in the standings to both the Hawks and Celtics, but are 3 1/2 games ahead of both, and hold the tiebreaker against both.
The Magic's magic number to clinching the second seed in the East is 7.
At 8:54 AM,
Matt said…
This was a pathetic game by the Magic as they seem disinterested up until the latter part of the fourth quarter. The good news is that Vince and Jameer are peaking only if Rashard follows the pattern. This loss was actually the courtesy of Mr. Lewis.
Mike, I agree that total elimination of Ryan from the rotation is unwarranted. With MP struggling we have to get Ryan in and try Rashard at SF some so that he may pick up his game - and confidence - a bit more too.
At 1:47 PM,
Big Figure said…
Agreed. SVG finally starts playing BB and then benches RA for good. Its truely either or with SVG and i cant understand that.
At 6:56 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Mickael Pietrus looked like he might have been on his way to a good game off the bench in the first half, as he scored 4 quick points, but then he re-aggravated his ankle injury and had to sit the rest of the game.
The Magic will need a healthy Pietrus for the playoffs, so I hope they sit him until he is 100% and won't re-aggravate anything.
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