Magic-Hawks Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Feb 23 2012 12:38AM

Atlanta's success against the Orlando Magic from last season has already carried over to this one. However, considering their current state, the Hawks might have a tough time continuing that run over their rival.

Without star Joe Johnson, the Hawks could find it difficult trying to avoid a season-high fourth straight loss while looking for a sixth consecutive home win over the Magic on Thursday night.

After taking three of four from Orlando during the 2010-11 regular season and winning a first-round playoff matchup in six games, Atlanta (19-14) edged the Magic 89-87 in overtime on the road Feb. 10.

The Hawks also have won five straight regular season and playoff home games against Orlando, though the last four have been decided by a combined 13 points.

"(Orlando) knows our offensive and our defensive schemes, and we know their schemes. We just gotta try to outplay them," said Hawks forward Josh Smith, who had 23 points and a season-high 19 rebounds against the Magic earlier this month.

Atlanta might have a more difficult time doing that after dropping its third in a row and eighth in 11 games, 99-82 to New York on Wednesday to conclude 1-4 road trip.

Orlando (22-12), meanwhile, won for the 10th time in 13 contests while shooting 53.6 percent during a 108-91 victory at New Jersey on Wednesday. Playing well and facing a depleted Atlanta team might be what the Magic need to turn things around in this series.

With Johnson sitting because of tendinitis in his knee, the Hawks were held to 35 points in the first half and shot 39.5 percent against the Knicks.

Averaging a team-leading 17.6 points, Johnson will miss this weekend's All-Star game in Orlando. Already without fellow All-Star Al Horford (torn pectoral muscle) for more than a month, Atlanta's recent struggles have come even with Johnson in the mix.

The Hawks have averaged 85.8 points on 41.5 percent shooting while going 3-8 in February. Jeff Teague scored a team-high 18 points and Willie Green added 16 on Wednesday.

"Being as depleted as we were, I still was hoping we could come out and just put together four solid quarters," coach Larry Drew said. "We just didn't do that."

Smith, who most in the organization feel was snubbed by the addition of Boston's Rajon Rondo as Johnson's All-Star replacement, has remained consistent by averaging 18.4 points and 10.9 rebounds in the last nine games.

The veteran forward has been held to 17 points and 14 boards in the last two home games - both in the playoffs - versus Orlando.

Dwight Howard, who remains in Orlando for the time being, averaged 27.0 points and 15.5 rebounds in the playoff series loss to Atlanta last season. However, he's failed to score more than 19 in a contest during the Magic's four-game regular-season skid to the Hawks.

Howard, who has asked for a trade as he approaches free agency, has totaled 48 points and 33 boards in the last two games overall.

"Right now my only concern is winning games, playing as hard as I can every night," Howard said. "That's the only thing I can control. I put all the other thoughts aside. The only thing I can control is what I do on the court."

Ryan Anderson, who had 14 points and nine rebounds Wednesday for the Magic, recorded 21 with nine boards against the Hawks earlier this month.

Smith scores 22 to lead Hawks over Magic 83-78

By GEORGE HENRY
Posted Feb 23 2012 11:27PM

ATLANTA (AP) It's safe to say the Orlando Magic were disgusted with their performance Thursday night.

With the All-Star break beginning Friday, the Magic didn't want their 83-78 loss to the Atlanta Hawks to resonate, so they held a brief players-only meeting in hopes of correcting some bad habits.

"We need to be depending on each other as a team," forward Ryan Anderson said. "We need to rely on each other, keep each other accountable. We haven't been playing that great and we're still third in the East, so we must be doing something right. But it just shows that we could be that much better."

Josh Smith scored 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to help the Hawks snap a three-game skid with the victory.

J.J. Redick finished with 13 points and Dwight Howard had 12 for the Magic, who had won two straight and six of seven.

"Our energy was bad," Redick said. "When we play that way, we're bad. We have to figure out a way to eliminate that."

Howard, the six-time All-Star center who led the league in fan voting and has been the subject of trade speculation this season, suggested that the Magic aren't too far from correcting their mistakes.

"You've got to stick together and buy into what we're trying to accomplish and go from there," Howard said after the meeting that lasted between 8-10 minutes. "My focus is just to keep the guys in the locker room together despite what's being said on the outside."

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was more succinct.

"I've been saying it to you guys, and I come off as negative all the time - we don't play hard enough," Van Gundy said. "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 don't. Simple as that."

Hawks leading scorer Joe Johnson missed his second straight game with left knee tendinitis, but Atlanta got 36 points from their reserves, including Jannero Pargo with 15 and Willie Green with 14.

The Magic recovered from a 10-point second quarter by scoring 25 in the third to pull within three heading into the final period.

Howard's lay-in cut the lead to 69-68 with 4:42 left, but the Magic never got any closer.

"We're going to have games like this," Howard said. "But for us to contend, one thing that has to be consistent is our effort. We'll be fine. People in this locker room know what's going on. They understand it's about us."

Green hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:16 remaining and followed with a fast-break runner over Redick to make it 74-68.

Pargo scored 12 points in the second quarter, including consecutive possessions that made it 41-28 after he hit a 3-pointer and a 16-footer on assists from Tracy McGrady.

The Hawks led 47-30 at halftime, thanks in part to a 21-2 advantage on fast-break points and a 28-18 edge in rebounds.

Atlanta missed its first five shots of the first quarter and last six of the second, but hit 58.3 percent of 36 attempts in between.

"When we're playing defense and playing energetic the way we're capable of, we'll be in the game at the end and have a chance to win," Green said. "That was the difference."

Pargo's 19-footer with 3:21 left in the second ended the first-half scoring, but he bent over in pain after running into Howard's screen late in the third quarter and was never again a factor.

Smith missed nine of his last 11 shots after scoring 14 points in the first.

Atlanta had lost five of six and eight of 11 overall, but the Hawks took their sixth straight win at Philips Arena over the Magic.

"We understood the importance of this game," Smith said. "They dominated us for so many years. We wanted to try to be able to return the favor."

After Howard's three-point play with 1:26 remaining made it 74-71, Green scored a wild runner from the left baseline over Howard's outstretched arm to give the Hawks a 76-71 lead.

Atlanta guard Jeff Teague finished with 13 points, while Anderson and Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu combined for 22 points on 8-of-29 shooting.

Anderson has heard Van Gundy talk about the team's energy all season. He believes the coach is right that the effort needs to improve.

"There's a lot of areas to improve in," Anderson said. "We just need to control the areas we can control in the second half (of the season), come back, know our roles and bring a ton of energy."

Notes: The Magic were without PG Jameer Nelson, who missed the game with a strained left knee. Chris Duhon, who started in his place, finished with six points, four assists and five fouls. .... Smith had 23 points and 19 rebounds in the Hawks' 89-87 overtime win at Orlando on Feb. 10. ... Atlanta outscored the Magic 25-12 in fast-break points and 38-36 in the paint. ... Orlando reserve F Quentin Richardson scored a team-high five points in the second, but did not return to the game because of a strained left Achilles tendon. ... Atlanta improved to 4-8 this month.

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.

• Magic: Harper, Nelson
• Hawks: Horford, Johnson

• Magic: --
• Hawks: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA
• Officials: #32 Eddie F. Rush, #61 Courtney Kirkland, #70 Brent Barnaky
• Attendance: 14523
• Duration: 2:20