Magic overwhelm Hawks

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ORLANDO – The Hawks gave evidence Friday they could handle Boston.

The Magic are another matter.

A scalding-hot shooting performance by Orlando chased the Hawks into the night with a 113-81 loss Saturday night.

One night after beating Eastern Conference heavyweight Boston at Philips Arena, the challenge of topping the two-time defending Southeast Division champions proved too great.

"It went wrong when we came out of the locker room," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "They're half a game up in the division (before the game) and they played like they wanted to stay at the top and we didn't."

The Magic shot 52.4 percent for the game and 64.4 percent in the first half, when they went on separate second-quarter runs of 14-2 and 13-3 to go into halftime ahead 66-37. The margin swelled to 38 points in the third quarter, the largest deficit the Hawks have faced this season.

The night seemed to set up well for the Hawks. The Magic had lost four games in a row and were without forward Vince Carter, out with a mild shoulder separation sustained Friday. The Hawks were riding the momentum of their second win of the season over the Celtics.

It didn't quite work out that way, as the Hawks missed an opportunity to take over first place in the Southeast by a half-game. The Hawks are 23-13. Orlando is 25-12. In fact, Hawks forward Josh Smith thought that the four-game losing streak was what produced the Magic's play.

"A couple of games ago, when we were facing a four-game losing streak and we faced the Nets, the desperation on our faces was similar to what [the Magic] had on their faces" Saturday, he said.

The Hawks have lost five in a row to Orlando, whose combination of center Dwight Howard's interior presence and a fleet of perimeter shooters has confounded them. It was exactly a year ago, in fact, that the Magic crushed the Hawks by a similar 121-87 score in Orlando.

"We really struggle against this team," center Al Horford said. "They just seem to have it going every time they play against us. We have to figure it out."

The Magic, who had shot no better than 42.9 percent in their four consecutive losses, scorched the nets, making shots from in close and from long-range, guarded and left open.

"We knew that coming into this one tonight, they were going to give us everything they had," said Hawks guard Joe Johnson.

Midway through the third quarter, forwards Matt Barnes and Rashard Lewis and guards J.J. Redick and Jason Williams were a combined 23 for 29 and 7 for 9 from 3-point range.

"Our defensive assignments, we messed up a few times, but I think more than anything, I think a lot of it was just effort," Johnson said. "They were just beating us off the dribble and pretty much getting what they wanted."

Meanwhile, the Hawks were way off of their offensive game, shooting 39.7 percent and failing to move the ball effectively in the halfcourt. One night after closing out the Celtics with a 14-point fourth quarter, guard Jamal Crawford missed his first six shots en route to a 4-for-14 night. Johnson was 2 for 9. About all the Hawks had going was a determined effort by Horford, who scored 14 points on seven shots with five rebounds. In terms of energy level, the game resembled the team's 92-75 no-show loss to Miami on Monday.

"I think our guys got a little discouraged," Horford said. "They were going to the basket and Dwight was blocking their shots. We have to stay after a team and a shot blocker like that. I think the guys started to settle and take jump shots. They took us out of what we wanted to do and they went to the other end, and we couldn’t stop them."

The Hawks will play the Celtics again Monday in Boston, the close of the Boston-Orlando-Boston stretch that some Hawks looked at as a mini-playoffs. The series, then, stands 1-1.