Take a deep breath.
A season-long three-game losing streak came to an end – but not without a fourth-quarter rally. The Hawks used a 22-2 run in the final period to score a 95-83 victory over the Magic Wednesday night at Amway Center. The Hawks held the Magic to 12 fourth-quarter and 31 second-half points for the needed victory.
“It was simple,” Paul Millsap said of the final quarter. “We got back to being us - getting stops.”
The Hawks (54-17, 24-12 road) are three wins away from tying the franchise record for victories in a season. They also reduced their magic number to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference to two with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
After losses to the Warriors, Thunder and Spurs, the Hawks needed to get right. Against the Magic, they did so by overcoming a 13-point deficit.
Millsap led six Hawks in double figures, including all five starters, with a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds. Jeff Teague finished with 16 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. Kyle Korver (13), DeMarre Carroll (11), Dennis Schroder (11) and Al Horford (10) were the others in double digits.
It was a defensive adjustment that keyed the Hawks’ second-half rally. They switched their pick-and-roll coverage to keep Magic guards Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton out of the paint and make them keep shooting jump shots.
“We kind of messed with a couple things and in the end we settled on a combination of both of them,” Korver said. “It seemed to work a little bit.”
The Hawks shot 55 percent (11 of 20) in the fourth, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Korver, Teague, Schroder and Pero Antic all hit long-range shots in the 22-2 run. Teague also had three other field goals. Teague scored on a drive with 4:37 left to give the Hawks an 82-81 lead. It was their first advantage since they led 4-2 with 1:35 gone in the opening period.
“We got a little more aggressive offensively, just attacking and playing faster,” said Teague. “We picked up our defensive intensity.”
The Magic shot just 25 percent (4 of 16) in the fourth quarter and 31.4 percent (11 of 35) in the second half.
“I think there was probably a little bit more pressure on the ball and pressure on their passers,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think at times in the first half they were almost like an NFL quarterback and were able to find guys. It just makes it too tough on your defense if you don’t make it more difficult on their passer. I think maybe as the game went on our activity on the passer got better and that enabled us to have a half-second more to get back to their shooters and to their guys who were making plays.”
The Magic (22-51) were led by Payton with 19 points and seven assists. The Hawks won the season series, 3-1.
The Magic led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter. The Hawks closed the first half on a 15-7 run to cut their deficit to five points, 52-47, at the half.
The Magic shot 60 percent in a 31-point first quarter to begin building their big lead. However, the Hawks limited them to 39 percent in the second quarter as they fought back. Millsap finished the first half with 18 points and eight rebounds.
The Hawks suffered a scare with Teague briefly left after turning his left ankle on a drive to the basket. He was able to return after a trip to the locker room to get re-tapped and change his shoes.
“It hurt,” Teague said. “But I wanted to get back out there and help my team.”
Korver ditched his protective mask, there for a broken nose, midway through the second quarter. Thabo Sefolosha returned after missing 23 games with a right calf strain and played seven minutes.
“Our main thing is to get back to where we were defensively,” Carroll said. “Offense is going to come. We are a good offensive team. But that is not what is going to take us far in the playoffs. Defense is.”
The Hawks begin a stretch of four games in five nights by hosting the Heat Friday.
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