Hawks at Magic
It hasn't been pretty of late but Atlanta continues to win and can extend its streak to 10 games when it wraps up a home-and-home set at Orlando on Saturday. The Magic became the ninth consecutive victim for the Hawks on Friday, succumbing to a stretch run for Atlanta in an 87-81 final. The Hawks survived an 11-point second quarter - their worst offensive showing in a stanza this season - and 37.2 percent shooting to keep alive their longest winning streak since opening the 1997-98 season 11-0.
Paul Millsap had 23 points and Al Horford contributed 17 to help Atlanta take the front end of the home-and-home. The Hawks are averaging 101.1 points during the course of the winning streak but have produced an average of 91 on 39.6 percent shooting over the last two to squeak by Philadelphia and Orlando. The Magic have dropped eight of 11 overall and are 2-6 at home this season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Atlanta), FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (16-6): Atlanta has done well to excel during a soft portion of its schedule as all nine wins along the way have come against teams that entered Friday with a sub-.500 record, but the slate becomes much tougher after the visit to Orlando. Following a home game against Chicago, the Hawks visit Cleveland, Houston and Dallas before hosting the Los Angeles Clippers to complete a five-game gauntlet. The stretch may make it difficult to approach the franchise record of 14 consecutive victories.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (9-16): Injuries have left Orlando with thinner ranks than earlier in the season and obtaining any support from the reserves has become an issue. The Magic entered Friday ranked 25th in the league in bench scoring (15.9) and saw five substitutes combined to produce seven points on 3-of-21 shooting against the Hawks. Rookie Elfrid Payton produced two points in 21 minutes while veteran Willie Green missed all eight of his shots, falling to 4-for-20 over his last four games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Magic C Nikola Vucevic (back) has missed six straight games.
2. Hawks SG Kyle Korver has three steals in each of his last two games.
3. Atlanta is 4-2 on the second half of back-to-backs while Orlando is 3-3.