Orlando —- If the Hawks are serious about making a late-season push for that eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, they'll have to get much more serious about playing some defense.

And fast.

They've given up 100 or more points in all but four of their 13 games since the All-Star break. Monday night's 123-112 blowout loss to the Orlando Magic at Amway Arena was their latest attempt at playing a solid 48 minutes of matador defense.

"They shot the [heck] out of the ball," Hawks point guard Mike Bibby said. "You've got to start games better than we did. Giving up 40 points in the first quarter [actually 38] is never good."

The Hawks (26-37) are piling up plenty of points of their own most nights. They're averaging more than 100 since the All-Star break.

The points just aren't coming nearly as fast as their opponents' most nights, and that's bad news for a team daydreaming about ending the NBA's longest playoff drought at eight seasons.

The Hawks allowed nearly 100 points by the end of the third quarter against the Southeast Division-leading Magic, who led 99-85 entering the final 12 minutes.

Monday's defensive effort was a far cry from the one the Hawks put forth the last time they were here. They smothered the Magic shooters on the perimeter to snatch a 98-87 victory on Dec. 10.

This time, the Hawks' defensive rotations were off all night, and the Magic's outside shooters made them pay dearly for being a step or two late.

"We shoot 51 percent from the field and 64 percent from the 3-point line and we still give up 120 points on the road, you're not going to win doing that," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "I thought we took a huge step defensively against Miami [on Saturday] and we took a huge step backwards against this team."

Magic forwards Hedo Turkoglu (23 points) and Rashard Lewis (22), two of the best shooting forwards in the league, led an outside assault that saw the Magic drain 15 of the 28 shots they took from beyond the 3-point line.

When the ball went inside, Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard, the former Southwest Atlanta Christian star, had his way with the Hawks' undersized and extremely thin frontcourt rotation.

Howard finished with a team-high 26 points and 16 rebounds.

"It's especially tough when they're shooting like that," Hawks forward Josh Smith said. "You really don't want to double Dwight when Hedo, Rashard and even Keith Bogans are hitting shots like that. The big thing tonight was Dwight was hitting his free throws. So all that fouling by the rim was hurting us because he took care of his business at the free-throw line."

Who else but the Hawks can shoot 50 percent in the first half and still be down 21 points? The Magic tied a franchise record for first-half points and led 74-53.

The Hawks have won seven road games this season, five fewer than in 2006-07. They have nine road games left.

"We tend to come out a little soft [on the road]," Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson said. "We came out and gave up two or three layups to start the game, and that right there shows we're not playing with the kind of defensive presence we need."

NEXT FOR HAWKS

> Who: vs. Rockets

> When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

> TV; radio: SportSouth; 790 AM