Hawks at Magic
THE STORY: There will be no repeat of last year’s embarrassing playoff
sweep for the Atlanta Hawks, not after a stunning 103-93 victory over
the Magic on Saturday in the opener of their first-round playoff series
in Orlando. The teams meet again Tuesday as the Hawks will try to take a
2-0 lead before the series shifts to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4. The
Hawks controlled everything except Orlando's Dwight Howard and Jameer
Nelson on Saturday, and led by as many as 18 points in casting aside the
demons from the 2010 postseason, when the Magic pulled off a four-game
second-round sweep of Atlanta by an NBA-playoff record 101 points.
Howard had 46 points and 19 rebounds Saturday in his best playoff
performance.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, Fox Sports Florida (Orlando), Fox Sports South (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE MAGIC: Howard made 16-of-23 shots and was a one-man act in the
first half with 31 points. Nelson put on a show in the second half when
he scored 26 of his 27 points. The rest of the Magic had only 20
points, which included horrid performances from Hedo Turkoglu (six
points, 2-of-9 shooting) and Jason Richardson (four, 2-for-8). The Magic
were careless with the ball and Howard committed eight of the team’s 18
turnovers. J.J. Redick returned after missing 17 games with an abdominal
injury and had four points in 18 minutes. Orlando last lost
back-to-back home games in early March when it fell to Chicago and
Portland.
ABOUT THE HAWKS: Atlanta received balanced scoring and committed only 10
turnovers, but the most pleasing performance was Joe Johnson’s 25
points. Johnson has been criticized in the past for not rising to the
occasion in the playoffs and shot only 29.8 percent against Orlando last season. Sixth
man Jamal Crawford scored 23 points, Al Horford had 16, Josh Smith
scored 15 and Kirk Hinrich added 13. The Hawks used a rotation system to
defend Howard as starting center Jason Collins played less than 18
minutes before he fouled out.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Crawford made four 3-pointers and matched his
highest scoring output since Feb. 27. Orlando forward Ryan Anderson was
scoreless in the opener after averaging 20 points over the final three
regular-season games.
KEY STATISTIC: Orlando was only 6-of-22 from 3-point range, which
continued its season-long issues against Atlanta. The Magic shot 22.6
percent from 3-point range in four regular-season games against the
Hawks.
LAST WORD:
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team. I could have scored
100 points and we still could have lost. So it’s not about me, it’s
about what we have to do on the defensive end. We have to get stops.” –
Howard.