The Atlanta Hawks were in Orlando on Wednesday evening to face the Magic. With the season near its end, this was a big win for both teams when it comes to seeding. The Magic have fallen over the past few weeks, while the Hawks have risen and are looking to stay in the top six of the Eastern Conference.
The Hawks have had the edge over the Magic this season, coming into this game with a 3-0 series lead. The good news for the Magic in this one was that they got Franz Wagner back, who hadn’t played since
the middle of February due to injury.
As for the Hawks, their injury report was clean as Jock Landale returned after a one-game absence.
Onyeka Okongwu got the Hawks on the board first, and it started with his defense.
The Hawks got in foul trouble early, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Mouhamed Gueye both picking up a pair. The Hawks didn’t let it bother them and continued to run their offense.
The fouls kept piling up, but the Hawks kept playing. Jonathan Kuminga got this and-one to go to cut their deficit.
The Magic’s poor three-point shooting helped the Hawks stay in it, and they went into the second quarter trailing 28-25.
The Hawks got things rolling to start the second, and it was Kuminga and Alexander-Walker who set the tone. Alexander-Walker helped tie the game, and it was Kuminga who gave the Hawks the lead.
Alexander-Walker was on a heater to continue to second, and he helped extend the Hawks’ lead with this three-pointer.
It didn’t stop there, and in classic April Fools mode, he faked out the Magic with this layup.
The Magic had a hard time getting anything on offense during that stretch, while the Hawks were pretty much able to get anything they wanted. It led to them extending their lead to double digits as they went on a 14-0 run.
Johnson went strong in the paint during the run.
Alexander-Walker continued to play like he was in NBA Street, and got another shifty layup.
The Hawks were hard to stop on offense, and their defense kept making it hard for the Magic to get anything clean. Jalen Johnson capped off the first half with this middy, and the Hawks led 72-54.
The fun didn’t stop for the Hawks going into the third quarter.
Daniels and Okongwu hit some three-pointers to extend their lead to 30 points in the quarter.
They keep their foot on the gas, and the second unit made enough plays for the team to keep the lead. Jock Landale knocked down a three-pointer late in the quarter.
The Hawks went into the fourth quarter with a 102-76 lead.
Alexander-Walker stayed hot going into the fourth.
Things got chippy midway through the quarter after Goga Bitadze pulled down Landale while he was going up for a layup. Both sides got tangled up, and Bitadze was called for a flagrant 2, which led to an ejection. Landale was also injured in the process, and after shooting his free throws, was ruled out of the game.
Johnson made light work of the smaller defender on this shot.
The Magic waved the white flag from there, and the Hawks put in their end-of-the-bench guys with around two minutes left in the game.
Caleb Houstan came in at the end and poured in three three-pointers against his former team.
Alexander-Walker finished with 32 points, Johnson finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds, Daniels finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Okongwu finished with 16 points.
The Hawks will be back in action on Friday against the Brooklyn Nets.
