Five observations from the Hawks’ 131-120 loss to the Magic Tuesday.
1. Blame it on the defense. Yes, the Magic made shots. They shot nearly 60 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range. The Hawks have to take some responsibility. The Magic entered the game 29th in the NBA in points scored at just 94.8 points per game. Only the Mavericks are worse at 93.5. In fact, the Magic are one of six teams in the league that don't average 100 points. And they hung 131 points on the Hawks. It's the most points allowed by the Hawks this season.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer and players credited the Magic for making the tough and the easy shots. Sure enough they did. But they Hawks failed to stay connected on defense time and again.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” a dejected Tim Hardaway Jr. said. “Defensively, they made a lot, a lot, of tough shots. When you have Elfrid Payton making a floater from the 3-point line and the shot clock running down, it’s just that type of night. They did a great job. Give them credit. They did a great job of knocking down their open shots, knocking down their tough shots.”
2. Turnovers bit the Hawks – again. They committed 15 turnovers that led to 26 points for the Magic. It's part of the reason the Magic held a substantial 22-8 advantage in fast break points. Many of the Hawks' turnovers were just plain careless.
By stark contrast, the Magic committed just nine turnovers that led to five points for the Hawks. The Magic didn’t have their first turnover until just 44.1 seconds remained in the first half. That’s in the first half. Incidentally, it was a steal by Thabo Sefolosha who missed the dunk on the drive to the basket.
Budenholzer on the team’s issues: “You have a team that is playing well. You have guys who are making shots and then you are handing them points off turnovers. That’s my first impression.”
3. The Hawks had an advantage inside with Dwight Howard. The center finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Nine of his rebounds were on the offensive end and helped the Hawks to a 29-4 advantage in second-chance points. They led 20-2 in the category by halftime. While Howard was good down low, the Magic were getting 29 points from Serge Ibaka, including four 3-pointers. Ibaka was forced to play some center with the injury to Nikola Vucevic. He pulled the Hawks bigs away from the basket and made 11 of 18 shots.
4. Howard was called for a technical foul – labeled physical taunting – in the fourth quarter after he grabbed a rebound off a Hardaway miss. In doing so, officials deemed his elbow connected with the head of Bismack Biyombo. The Hawks trailed by 10 points, 110-110, at the time. Jeff Green made the free throw and the Hawks would get no closer than eight points the rest of the game. Budenholzer and Howard expressed frustration over the call following the game.
5. The Hawks slipped below .500 with the loss – again. At 12-13, this may be a team fighting for a winning record all season. As the season progresses and bad losses like Tuesday continue, the streak of nine straight playoff appearances is in jeopardy. The Hawks have a lot to figure out to be a consistent team. The loss comes after the Hawks won two straight and appeared to be headed back in the right direction. Some nights the offense works (they did manage a season-high 120 points). Some nights the defense is works. Rarely have the two worked in concert.
“It’s discouraging,” Paul Millsap said.
