ORLANDO MAGIC 130 – 120 ATLANTA HAWKS
OUR MAGIC GET THE WIN!
The win is a good result but let’s be honest, it is a win against a team we should beat. I’m not going to get over excited. However as far as I’m concerned a win is a win so it’s all good.
The Game Story
The Hawks score at will but thankfully allow points even more easily. In Young & Collins they have two players who can find buckets effortlessly, going for 37 & 26 each last night. Some of their scores were just sheer brilliance as they hit points off of well defended possessions.
Across the last two road games some of our ball movement has been brilliant. It brought us back in the second half in Brooklyn & allowed us to get a good lead last night. We finished the game with 30 assists, Markelle Fultz had 8, Aaron Gordon 6 & Evan Fournier 5. The ball movement has coincided with when we have upped our defensive efforts as we lock in on both ends of the floor. We had 9 blocks in Atlanta, AG with 3 & Mo Bamba with 4.
We also got good production across the whole team. Mo & Terence Ross both had big 2nd quarter efforts, helping us score 41 points in that 12 minutes. Mo matched his career high points total in that quarter alone! Aaron Gordon had a brilliant game producing another double-double, including an almost perfect 3rd quarter on both ends of the floor as we racked up 39 points in the quarter. Evan Fournier scored 14 of his 28 points in the 4th. Across the game we shot 14 of 32 on the long ball (43%).
Record & Playoff Position
Our road record is now 11 wins & 18 losses. We are 21 & 2 when we lead or are level entering the 4th quarter. We are also 17 & 1 when we score at least 110 points.
The Magic have kept the 8th spot with a 26 & 32 record. We remain 5 wins ahead of the Washington Wizards in 9th, who have played 1 game less than ourselves with a 21 & 36 record. They beat the Brooklyn Nets last night by 106-110. Brooklyn stay 7th as they have a better win percentage based on having played a game less than us, with a 26 & 31 record. The Chicago Bulls don’t play until Saturday, have a record of 20 & 39 are sat in the 11th spot, 6 wins back from us but also having played a game more. They dropped back after Charlotte took 10th position on the back of beating the Knicks. The Hornets are now 20 & 38, 6 wins back having played the same number of games.
We do hold the tiebreaker over all three teams, the Nets (2-0), the Hornets (2-0), the Bulls (1-0) & the Wizards (4 & 0).
If we reach the 7th seed spot again it would likely set up a repeat of last season’s first round matchup against the Toronto Raptors. Indiana in 6th are 8 wins ahead of us having played the same number of games, barring a huge surprise I think they are clear of us.
Next Up
We now return to the Amway to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, the first night of a tough back-to-back. The Nets travel to Atlanta & the Wizards to Utah that night also.
We have a way to go yet but it is looking good again.
