The Hawks have their first losing streak.
Atlanta dropped its second straight game with a 109-92 loss to Orlando Tuesday night at Philips Arena. The Hawks hadn’t lost two games in a row all season.
To make matters worse, the Magic snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Hawks. They hadn’t won a game since Nov. 8, 2010 – more than three years ago. They snapped a seven-game losing streak at Philips Arena with the last win coming Nov. 26, 2009 – exactly four years ago.
The Magic won the game with their second-half play. They outscored the Hawks 36-20 and shot 62.5 percent (15 of 24) in the third quarter and 58.1 percent (25 of 43) in the second half. The Hawks shot 32.4 percent (12 of 37) in the second half.
“Obviously we didn’t play well,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think in the second half Orlando raised its level and we didn’t respond to it. We as a group got a little out of sync. We have to learn how to respond and react when the opponent raises its level. It was just a night where we didn’t do that and we didn’t play well.”
The Hawks (8-7, 4-3 home) had given up an average of 89.3 points in the past three games. The Magic surpassed that total 1:51 into the fourth quarter.
Jeff Teague and Al Horford led the Hawks with 15 points apiece. Lou Williams added 11 points and eight assists in a season-high 24 minutes.
Kyle Korver extended his streak to 88 games with a 3-pointer, one shy of Dana Barros’ NBA record. He can tie the mark Wednesday at the Rockets. He connected from long range in the second quarter to move past Dan Majerle (1,360) for 26th on the all-time made 3-pointers list.
“They were doing it in a variety of ways but the real downers were the easy layups that they were getting,” Horford said. “That is unacceptable. We need to be better at that if we want to have any chance at winning. We don’t have the kind of team where we can take people for granted. We need to go out there and play hard and play the same way every night because, if not, anybody in this league can beat you. We can’t afford to play like we played tonight.”
The Magic (5-9, 1-5 road) snapped a four-game losing streak.
Arron Afflalo led the Magic with a game-high 26 points. It marked the ninth time that the forward has led the team in scoring. He entered the game 12th in the NBA with a 21.6 points per game average. Afflalo had 10 of the Magic’s third-quarter points. Victor Oladipo added 18 points.
The Magic took a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter. They used a 28-10 run to turn an eight-point deficit into a 10-point advantage. After starting the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run the lead was up to 21. It would grow to as much as 24.
The Hawks led 53-49 at halftime after leading by as many as eight points in second quarter. They made 7 of 14 from 3-point range in the first half as six different players connected.
The Hawks were able to hold a big lead in a 104-94 victory over the Magic this month.
That was not the case Tuesday.
“I think we just came out flat,” DeMarre Carroll said. “They were the aggressor and we weren’t. We’ve got to learn after the half we have to come out and play better. I don’t think we’ve got it yet. We have to learn from it.”
Shelvin Mack suffered a sprained left ankle in the second quarter, after scoring six points in the period, and did not return. He and Williams (back-to-back) will not travel with the team to Houston for Wednesday’s game against the Rockets. It will be the second in a stretch of four games in five days.
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