Hawks 88, Magic 85
Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and Joe Johnson added 20 as the Atlanta Hawks took a 3-1 series lead with an 88-85 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic on Sunday.
Orlando had a chance to force overtime but Hedo Turkoglu missed a last-second 3-point shot.
Al Horford had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Kirk Hinrich added 14 points for the fifth-seeded Hawks, who can wrap up the series Tuesday when the teams meet in Orlando.
Dwight Howard had 29 points and 17 rebounds and Gilbert Arenas scored 20 points for the fourth-seeded Magic, who were just 2-of-23 from 3-point range.
Josh Smith’s basket with 4:45 left gave Atlanta a 78-76 lead and the Hawks never trailed after that. Johnson’s 10-footer gave Atlanta a seven-point lead with 1:39 remaining.
Orlando rattled off six straight with Arenas’ layup cutting its deficit to 84-83 with 22.2 seconds left. Johnson hit four consecutive free throws – Howard scored between Johnson’s two trips to the line – as Atlanta took an 3-point lead with 10.5 seconds to go.
Atlanta took the lead at the outset and led by as many as 16 points in the first half. Orlando finally caught the Hawks when Arenas nailed a 3-pointer to tie the score at 68 with 10:15 remaining.
Howard scored 24 points in the second half.
Orlando’s Jason Richardson and Atlanta’s Zaza Pachulia sat out after being suspended following their skirmish in Game 3.