These are the situations Mike Bibbby lives for.

Late in a game, everything on the line and the ball in his hands.

Allen Sullivan/AJC (ENLARGE)

Hawks guard Joe Johnson executes a pass around an Orlando Magic defender. Johnson scored 34 in a 98-90 win at Philips Arena.

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Joe Johnson dragged the Hawks to the fourth quarter, but he needed Bibby's help in finishing off the Orlando Magic 98-90 in a huge victory for the Hawks at Philips Arena.

Bibby scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers early in the quarter that put the Hawks in control of the action down the stretch.

"We had a little bit more to lose than they did," Bibby said. "But the guys pulled through. We got the rebounds, did a good job on [Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard] and we came through with the win."

Bibby and Johnson were lethal down the stretch, each of them taking and making the big shots to keep the Hawks (30-39) afloat.

"I was just trying to get the ball in Joe's hands," Bibby said. "He's a tough cover for anybody, and he commands a lot of attention, so I tried to get the ball in his hands and let him make some plays, knowing that it opens up the floor for everybody else."

Johnson added his usual strong outing, with 34 points, seven assists, five rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot.

Bibby, the point guard the Hawks so desperately needed and grabbed at the NBA trade deadline, helped finish off the Magic.

"Mike just controlled the tempo," Josh Childress said. "The fourth quarter was pretty much his, and that's the reason we won."

It was a little more complex than that, of course. After leading by 14 points early the Hawks surrendered the lead and actually trailed by as many as six points in the third quarter.

But Bibby and Johnson refused to let another critical game slip away. Not only did they combine for 54 points, including six of the Hawks' made 3-pointers, 15 assists, 11 rebounds, five steals and just four turnovers. Both men played 43-plus minutes, the highlight came in the final minute of the game when Bibby refused to let Woodson take him out.

"I can get it done now," Bibby said after Woodson hugged him as Johnson sank the game-clinching free throws with 6.7 seconds left.

"I couldn't afford to take them out tonight," Woodson said. "We built the lead early, and I took Joe out and the lead went up in flames. So I had to ride those guys until the end. And they stepped up and made plays."

None bigger than the back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers they made to start the fourth quarter. Bibby made the first two and Johnson the third.

"That gave us the momentum to start the quarter off, and it seemed like from that point on we never looked back," Johnson said. "And we know they're a tough basketball team. But we had to fight. This was a very important game for us, and we came out in the fourth quarter and acted like it."

The victory and New Jersey's loss to Philadelphia pushed the Hawks' lead to a game and a half for that eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff slot, a cushion the Hawks will take on the road to Chicago on Tuesday in yet another make-or-break contest.

"They're all big now," Johnson said. "And we've got to play them just like we did this one, with everything we've got."