The Hawks’ efficient shooting kept them in the game and guard Dejounte Murray’s game-winning jumper rewarded them with a 106-104 home win over the Magic on Wednesday.
In a game filled with lead changes and determined by one possession, each offensive opportunity mattered.
“Obviously some things we could’ve done better,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “We were unselfish, we competed and we were really connected. ... It was a really good win because it was an affirmation of those things.”
The Magic thrived off of offensive rebounds in the first half. Their 11 rebounds, compared to the Hawks’ three, led to 15 second-chance points, compared to Atlanta’s four. Luckily for the Hawks, their 51.4% shooting from the field on 37 attempts kept them afloat, as they were down just 51-49 at halftime.
The Hawks’ number of shot attempts wasn’t typical from their offense, which leads the NBA in first-half shot attempts with 47.5. The Magic took 50 shots in the first 24 minutes of play.
Besides this, the Hawks’ 14 first-half turnovers doubled the Magic’s total. Atlanta averages only 6.5 in the first half per game.
Snyder pointed to the Magic’s length at multiple positions as what makes their defense so difficult to beat.
“I’m not letting our guys off the hook, but when Clint (Capela) gets switched out on (Paolo) Banchero ... our backline on the glass isn’t 6-9, 6-11,” Snyder said. “They’re big, it takes a little getting used to that and you have to adjust some of the angles on your passes.”
The Hawks tightened up in the second half, though, winning the offensive rebounding battle 7-5 and turning the ball over less (nine times). Five of those boards were grabbed in a single possession during crunch time.
Up 98-97 with 2:03 remaining in the game, the Hawks struggled to capitalize on Banchero’s missed shot, missing five straight shots themselves. Yet, between Murray, small forward Saddiq Bey and power forward Onyeka Okongwu, the trio snagged five rebounds before Murray sinked a right-handed floater with 1:41 left.
Murray mentioned how veteran shooting guard Wesley Matthews told him and his teammates “that looked like a bunch of guys that wanted the ball (and) wanted to win the game.”
“Usually we’re on the other end of that where the other team is getting a lot of offensive rebounds,” Murray said. “It shows that we wanted the ball. ... It’s important to compete on both ends of the floor.”
The Hawks’ second-half defense and stronger ball security cut down the Magic’s shot attempts by 11, shooting 18-for-39 from the field. Atlanta took the same number of shots as Orlando, but knocked down two more. The Hawks’ 51.3% from the field in the second half was enough to put them over the top.
Trae Young doubled down on Snyder’s point of the team’s unselfishness on offense, especially in a back-and-forth battle.
“We did a great job of starting the game tonight like we did last game,” Young said. “Shots weren’t necessarily going in the whole game like we are usually used to, but we were moving it and guys were getting good looks and we’ll take the looks that we got tonight.”
