Hawks at Magic
The Atlanta Hawks are fighting trade rumors involving their best player - power forward Paul Millsap - and others just as they are starting to string together some wins. The Hawks will try to convince the front office to keep the core intact and go for it this season with a fourth straight win when they visit the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Rumors sparked over the weekend that Atlanta was listening to offers on veterans Millsap, guard Kyle Korver and swingman Thabo Sefolosha, with the latter two scheduled to become free agents at the end of the season and Millsap having the option to opt-out of the final year of his contract this summer. Millsap, 31, is averaging 17.8 points and exploded for 32 points and 13 rebounds in a 114-112 overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. The Magic are trying to find their way to a winning streak and bounced back from a pair of losses by earning a 115-103 win at the New York Knicks on Monday. "It was a much better response to a tough loss," Orlando coach Frank Vogel told reporters. "Clearly, there was much better energy and effort on both ends of the floor and that’s how you’ve got to play. Any less than that is unacceptable."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (18-16): Millsap battled through a shooting slump that saw him go 18-of-66 from the field over a four-game stretch before breaking out for 26 points in a win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday and continuing with the stellar outing against the Spurs. "Overall, big picture, it’s good for us mentally," Millsap told the Atlanta Journal Constitution of beating the Spurs. “We beat a really good team. That’s the mentality we have to have going forward. If we play with that mentality, playing to win, I think we’ll be all right." The Hawks are opening a four-game road trip on Wednesday but will not face a winning team on the excursion, with stops at New Orleans, Dallas and Brooklyn after Orlando.
ABOUT THE MAGIC (16-20): Vogel put his team through a film session after a 117-104 loss at Indiana on Sunday and pointed out several weaknesses that the team managed to correct in Monday's triumph. "This is the NBA and sometimes teams come out and don’t play with the necessary energy," Vogel told reporters. "The teams that play with it most consistently are the teams that win 50 games and go on playoff runs. The teams that don’t they home every year. So we’ve got to bring that energy every night." Ball movement was one of the issues discussed in the film session, and Orlando handed out 35 assists on 45 field goals in Monday's triumph.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks SG Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a career-high 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting Sunday after totaling four points on 2-of-15 in the previous two games.
2. Magic SG Evan Fournier (heel) sat out the last five games and remains day-to-day.
3. Orlando took the last three in the series, including a 131-120 win at Atlanta on Dec. 13.