Magic at Hawks
The Orlando Magic went all the way to London in search of a win but fell in overtime to the Toronto Raptors in front of the foreign fans. The Magic are back in the United States but will still be on the road as they search for their second win in the last eight games when visiting the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Orlando is making a habit of falling into early holes and had to battle back from a 31-18 deficit after the first quarter in London to force overtime before eventually falling 106-103 to the Raptors. “One of the main things that we’re trying to convince our guys of is that this is a win-or-lose league,” Magic coach Scott Skiles told reporters. “This is serious business and a man’s sport. Sure, we’ll talk to some guys individually about some things they did well, but our first half was unacceptable.” The Hawks are another team trying to establish some consistency, and they avoided a three-game slide with a 114-86 trouncing of the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday. Atlanta lost by 23 points in Charlotte and fell in overtime at Milwaukee before beginning the two-game homestand with a win, and the team will head back out for four straight after finishing up with Orlando.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Florida (Orlando), FSN Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE MAGIC (20-19): Orlando has played one game in the last nine days, giving the team plenty of practice and recovery time surrounding the trip overseas. One of the things the team is working on in practice is integrating Victor Oladipo back into the starting lineup while Elfrid Payton joins the reserves at the point guard spot. Payton returned to the lineup in London after missing the previous four games with a bruised left ankle while Oladipo scored 27 points in the loss and is averaging 20.4 in the last five contests.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (24-17): Atlanta as a team might be battling some inconsistency, but forward Paul Millsap is about as consistent as they come individually. The veteran has scored between 18 and 24 points in each of the last 11 games and went over 10,000 points for his career while pouring in 21 on 8-of-13 shooting in Saturday’s victory. “The word that keeps coming up is consistency, or lack of consistency,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. “We’d like to be better, and I think we’ve shown at times that we can be a very good team.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Oladipo is 18-of-27 from 3-point range over the last five games.
2. Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver went 0-of-4 from 3-point range on Saturday after knocking down 8-of-15 in the previous three games.
3. Oladipo was held to four points on 2-of-11 shooting in a 103-100 home loss to Atlanta on Dec. 20.