The Atlanta Hawks were in Orlando on Friday evening to face the Magic after a disappointing season opener against the Toronto Raptors. It would be a tough battle to redeem themselves, as they came into the matchup down Zaccharie Risacher with an ankle injury and Kristaps Porzingis with flu-like symptoms.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Onyeka Okongwu took their places, and the Hawks went to battle. After not being able to make an impact against the Raptors because of foul trouble, Dyson Daniels got the first
points for the Hawks with a spin layup.
Already down one player in the frontcourt, Okongwu picked up two early fouls, which led Mouhamed Gueye to come in early. He made his presence known early, turning defense into offense for the Hawks.
Later on, Gueye knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer to give the Hawks a three-point lead in the first.
He then showed off his playmaking with this pass to Vit Krejci.
The game was physical in the first quarter, and it definitely set the tone for what it was going to be like for the remainder of the game. Going into the second quarter, the Hawks led 25-24.
The Magic started to string some shots together to the start the second quarter, and they took the lead and extended it. On the other hand, the Hawks had a hard time getting anything to go offensively. Things started to get physical again midway through the second, as Gueye and Paolo Banchero got into it.
That didn’t bother Gueye, and he got this easy dunk after the Hawks forced a turnover.
Despite making plays on the defensive end, the Hawks were still stagnant on offense, and they found themselves down as much as 14 points in the quarter because of it. The one thing is that the Hawks didn’t let it get too out of hand, and they kept their deficit around 10 points.
The one constant in the first half was the strong play of Gueye, and he got an and-one to go on a fast break.
Going into halftime, the Hawks trailed 61-51. To start the third quarter, the Hawks found a rhythm on offense for a little bit, but the Magic continued to extend their lead. The Hawks kept fighting, and turned defense into offense again. This time it was Okongwu on the break with the and-one.
All it took was one run for the Hawks to cut their deficit, and that’s what happened late in the third quarter.
Alexander-Walker was a big reason for their run, as he scored 10 points in the quarter.
Gueye continued to make plays as well.
The Hawks cut their deficit down to as much as four points, but the Magic made a run as well and brought their lead back up to eight points going into the fourth. There was still some fight left in them, and the bench unit got things rolling.
The Hawks continued to chip away, and the rookie got in on the run with a corner 3-pointer.
Asa Newell came back again, and Young found him for an alley-oop dunk to tie the game.
Young started to get it going himself, and he gave the Hawks their first lead since the second quarter.
The Hawks kept executing down the stretch, and it got Okongwu an open 3-pointer.
The Magic came back with their own mini-run and tied the game at 105 with 54 seconds left in the game. Out of the timeout, Young knocked down a floater to give the Hawks the lead. Jalen Suggs came down and answered with his own layup to tie the game.
Young made it a chess match, and came right back down and got Wendell Carter Jr. switched onto him, and drew a foul to go to the free throw line, knocking down both and giving the Hawks the lead again with 21 seconds remaining.
The Hawks put all their defenders in, and it worked as they forced Banchero into a tough 3-pointer that he missed, and Gueye ended up with the ball to call a timeout. Young was fouled, knocked down both free throws, and that put the nail in the coffin, giving the Hawks a four-point lead their first win of the season.
Young finished with 25 points and six assists, Alexander-Walker finished with 19 points, Okongwu finished with 17 pointa, and Gueye finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
The Hawks will be back in action tomorrow to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
