MAGIC 121, HAWKS 87: Beatdown in Southeast

Orlando —- Forget challenging Orlando for the Southeast Division title this season.

The Hawks better hope they don’t get tossed out of the division on their wings after a meltdown of epic proportions in a mind-boggling 121-87 loss to the Magic on Friday night at Amway Arena.

It was by far the Hawks’ worst loss of the season and equals the worst loss of the Mike Woodson era; the Hawks’ lost 110-76 at Cleveland on April 14, 2007.

“They just beat the [expletive] out of us,” Hawks point guard Mike Bibby said. “They were making shots, and that took so much steam out of us early on because we weren’t —- and we never recovered.”

With the Magic eager to finish what they started in a closer-than-it-should-have-been 106-102 victory over the Hawks on Wednesday at Philips Arena, the Hawks got caught with a right hook they never saw coming —- a 41-point first-quarter barrage led by JJ Redick’s 11 points off the bench —- and didn’t regained consciousness in time to actually make this a game.

They trailed 22-4 minutes into the game, 41-18 after the first quarter, by as many as 39 points in the second quarter and 71-33 at halftime in a game that was out of hand long before most of the sellout crowd of 17,461 had settled into their seats.

The Magic lead ballooned to as many as 50 points in the second half, and they finished with six starters in double figures, led by Hedo Turkoglu’s 21 points, which included 5-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line.

And the Magic didn’t hesitate to pour it on with half of their 16 successful 3-point shots coming in the second half, and they continually threw lobs for alley-oops long after the game was out of hand.

“That was a totally unacceptable performance,” said Woodson, who not only watched his team get dismantled but also saw his starting center, Al Horford, get elbowed in the face in the first half and injure his right knee in the second. “They just had their way with us from start to finish.”

Friday’s first-half implosion isn’t even the Hawks’ most egregious defensive performance in this building. The Magic ravaged them for 73 first-half points on March 10 in a 123-112 Hawks loss.

But the Hawks (22-13) weren’t attempting to challenge the Magic, who at 29-8 are fighting with Cleveland and Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, for division supremacy back then.

“This season’s been great so far, but to lose like this … ” Hawks captain Joe Johnson said after his short night. “They just came out from the gate and hit us, and we never hit back. We never stepped up to the challenge.

“With the season we’re having, we’ve played pretty well until the last couple of nights. … We just have to put this one behind us and move forward.”

If the Hawks are serious about competing against the Magic, they’ll have to maintain their composure better than they did Friday night.

Woodson, Johnson and Josh Smith were whistled for technical fouls before halftime. The Hawks also picked up another one for a delay of game with 3:01 to play in the first quarter when Solomon Jones checked into the game without his jersey tucked in, their second delay-of-game warning.

Jones added a flagrant foul with 2:46 to play in the third quarter when he shoved Dwight Howard to the ground as he jumped to grab a lob for a dunk with the Magic cruising with a 99-51 lead.

“Things got a little crazy,” Smith said. “I think that was just frustration boiling over, but we can’t dwell on this game. We have to put it behind us and get ready to play against Philadelphia on Sunday [at Philips Arena].”

NEXT FOR HAWKS

> Who: vs. 76ers

> When: 2 p.m. Sunday

> Radio: 790 AM