Hawks hang on, snap Magic’s six-game winning streak

Through the team’s 31 games this season, the Hawks are at their best when they’re moving the ball and getting plenty of players involved. Seven Hawks scored 10 or more points in Monday’s game. It’s the second time this season the team has done so, with the last time being its win over the Nuggets on Dec. 2.

The Hawks are 8-3 when they have 25 or more assists in a game.

Young scored 37 points and dished out 13 assists.

2. The Hawks will have to continue working on closing out their games. Atlanta has given up double-digit leads on a number of occasions this season, but the team managed to hang on Monday night.

The Hawks had a 13-point lead with 6:59 remaining, but the Magic used an 8-4 run to chip away. Though Young hit a couple of key shots to try to stop the slide, the Magic had momentum on their side and eventually took the lead off back-to-back layups from Markelle Fultz.

“I mean, that’s executing the game plan,” Hawks guard Dejounte Murray said. “Before the timeout, we (were) told what we got to (do) from our coaches, who we trust, and we didn’t execute ...”

3. Despite the absence of Clint Capela on Monday night, the Hawks put up a solid fight on the glass. Early in the game, the Hawks outrebounded the Magic 23-20 and scored eight second-chance points.

The Hawks needed to have a gang rebounding mentality in the absence of their big man, and eight of the players in the team’s nine-man rotation pulled down at least three rebounds.

John Collins, who missed the last eight games due to injury, started at center for the Hawks. He finished with 12 points and seven rebounds and had a helping hand from rookie AJ Griffin. The first-year wing had seven rebounds and 19 points.

The Hawks received a big lift from Onyeka Okongwu, who had 11 points and eight rebounds.

“That game was in our hands,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said. “It’s just a matter of executing, understanding what you need to do, what plays you need to run and finishing the game. Finishing the game solid, defending, doing all the things that got you that lead late in the fourth. And just finishing the game, not relaxing and playing as if that game is over.”

4. The Hawks struggled to contain Fultz, a former first-round pick who torched them at the basket. Fultz took advantage of Capela’s absence, making 6 of 9 attempts in the restricted area.

Fultz burned the Hawks twice in the final 28 seconds with a pair of layups, one of which gave the Magic a one-point lead with 3.8 seconds left.

The 24-year-old scored 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting overall and made 2 of 3 attempts from deep.

His return to the Magic’s rotation was a catalyst for the young team’s six-game winning streak, and he has averaged 11.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists over 11 games.

5. The Hawks missed the presence of Murray over the last five games. But despite his legs feeling heavy, the 26-year-old helped to get the Hawks the win and back to one game above .500.

With 3.8 seconds left, Murray took an inbound pass from Young and took the ball to the corner as Admiral Schofield and Paolo Banchero trapped him. Murray pulled up for the shot, and Schofield and Banchero rose to block it.

Banchero made contact with Murray, and officials called him for the foul.

Murray knocked down both free throws to seal the game for the Hawks.

“I mean, legs were tired, which I expected, normal,” Murray said. “And, just trying to play hard and do the right things on both ends of the floor. So, I’ll get back.”

Stat to know

The Hawks outscored Orlando 62-48 in the paint, the seventh time this season Atlanta has scored 60-plus points in the paint, moving to 5-2 when doing so.

Quotable

“It’s not a concern, we’re still working, are working on it. We’re 31 games into the season, and we’re not where we want to be. And we have to continue to work on it. I don’t think any team is really where they want to be right now.” – McMillan

Up next

The Hawks will host the Bulls at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.