Notebook: Hawks 83, Magic 78

Posted Thursday February 23, 2012 11:17PM

By Matt Winkeljohn, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Tired, beaten up and shorthanded upon returning from a 10-day road trip and frustrated by five losses in their previous six games, the Atlanta Hawks turned form upside down Wednesday when coach Larry Drew's decision to start two point guards had little to do with the outcome. Instead, two Atlanta guards coming off the bench -- Jannero Pargo and would-be starter Willie Green -- were sandwich-style keys to the Hawks' 83-78 win over the a visiting Orlando squad that had been smoking hot.

The Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak and beat the Magic for the second time this season and fifth straight time overall after Pargo scored all 15 of his points as Atlanta built a 47-30 halftime lead, and Green -- who started in place of injured All-Star Joe Johnson Wednesday in New York -- came off the bench to score 10 of his 14 in the fourth quarter. Josh Smith helped mightily, too, with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Pargo and Green surprises, and so were some of the other reasons why the Magic lost for just the second time in eight outings. All-Star Dwight Howard was limited to 12 points on modest 5-for-7 shooting, and the league's third-most accurate 3-pointing shooting team (39 percent) shot just 7-for-32 from beyond the arc for 21.9 percent.

Absent injured point guard Jameer Nelson, Orlando nonetheless tied Atlanta early in the fourth quarter when J.J. Redick made a trey (he made 2-for-4, but everybody else was 5-for-28) on his way to a team-high 13 points. The rest of the period was much like the first two, however, as the Hawks outrebounded Orlando 14-10 and grabbed 12 of the Magic's 17 missed shots in the period. Howard did not grab a single carom in the fourth to cap a night when Atlanta won 47-40 on the boards and Atlanta center Zaza Pachulia matched Howard with 12 rebounds overall.

Whether the Magic took the Hawks for granted given the absence of All-Star center Al Horford (torn pectoral muscle) and Johnson (tendinitis in the left knee) was debatable but suggested.

Pargo's impact was crystal clear if surprising.

Although he scored a season-high 19 points in a loss Monday at Chicago, he returned to form with just six points in New York. He logged five DNP-CDs in the 12 games before the Chicago contest, and averaged just 3.0 points in the other seven games in that span.

Yet Pargo made 6-for-9 shots in the first half Thursday, including 3-for-4 3-pointers, and the Atlanta defense held the Magic to a season-low 30 points in the first half and 10 points in the second quarter when Orlando made 4-for-16 shots and was out-scored 11-0 in fast break points.

QUOTABLE: "We just tried to put the past behind us. We all understand that we weren't playing the way we're capable of. When we're playing defense, and playing energetic the way we're capable . . . we'll be in the game at the end and have a chance to win. That was the difference."
-- Hawks' Willie Green

THE STAT: 21-2: This was Atlanta's edge in fast break points in the first half, when the Hawks' athleticism (and plus-10 rebounding margin) were too much for the Magic to handle.

TURNING POINT: The Hawks already had the lead, but it was a scant point in the fourth quarter when Smith missed a jumper and Pachulia not only beat Howard for the rebound with 3:19 left in the game but whipped a pass to Green for a 3-pointer and a 72-68 lead with 3:15 to go. Those were the first of seven straight points by Green, and Orlando never again drew closer than four points.

QUOTABLE II: "I've been saying it to you guys, and I come of as negative all the time . . . we don't play hard enough. We just don't. We're not going to be anywhere near contenders in the East unless we're going to play hard all the time, and we just don't. Simple as that. I'm not really interested in the reasons. I'm just interested in getting it done."
-- Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy.

HOT: Smith was all over the place in the first quarter, when he made 6-for-11 shots and a pair of free throws for 14 points as Atlanta took a 29-20 lead. . . . Pargo scored 12 points in the second period, when he made 5-for-8 shots, including two treys, and added three rebounds, an assist and a steal. . . . Green has made 28-for-49 shots over the past five games.

NOT: The Magic missed all seven of their 3-pointers in the first quarter. . . . Atlanta's Tracy McGrady went scoreless for the second time in four games. He missed his only shot Wednesday. . . . Vladimir Radmanovic has made just 4-for-15 shots over four games. . . . With two points Wednesday, Hawks starting small forward Marvin Williams has that many total in the two games since he missed the Chicago contest for personal reasons. . . . Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu made just 4-for-16 shots, and missed all but one of his nine 3-pointers. He also had four turnovers.

GOOD MOVE: You can't really say that Drew's decision to start Kirk Hinrich rather than the more obvious Green at shooting guard made a discernible different, but the coach's willingness to let Pargo play early did. . . . Van Gundy started Chris Duhon at point guard in place of Nelson, whom the coach said, "tweaked" his left knee Wednesday in New Jersey, and that constituted a bad move, actually. Duhon was scoreless in the first half, missing all three shots, and had one assist in 11:19. Duhon finished six points and four assists. Van Gundy parried that decision in the first half, however, by trusting Ish Smith to play the other 12:41 at the point. He was the Magic's only life for a while with eight points, four assists, two rebounds, a steal and no turnovers in that half. He gave Atlanta problems running the pick-and-roll. Most of Smith's good deeds were done in the first quarter. He did not score in the second half, when he added an assist.

NOTABLE: Jason Richardson returned to action for the Magic after missing three games with chest pain. He scored seven points with five rebounds but missed five of six 3-pointers.

UP NEXT: For the Magic, Wednesday @ Washington, Thursday vs. Oklahoma City, Saturday, March 3 vs. Milwaukee. For the Hawks, Wednesday vs. Golden State, Friday vs. Milwaukee, Saturday, March 3 vs. Oklahoma City.