Hawks-Magic Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Apr 13 2012 12:46PM

The Orlando Magic were hopeful a five-day break would be enough rest for Dwight Howard's sore back so he could take the court for a matchup with the Atlanta Hawks.

It turns out he won't return, although his presence might not have made that much difference anyway.

In a matchup of teams tied for the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, Orlando looks to avoid losing a sixth straight regular-season game to Atlanta on Friday night at Amway Arena.

Back spasms will cause Howard to miss his third straight contest and fifth in the Magic's seven games this month. Orlando (34-24) has lost three of four in his absence, the most recent a 93-85 defeat to lowly Washington on Tuesday.

Ryan Anderson shot 2 for 10 and had seven points - less than half his season average - in his second game back after missing three with a sprained ankle.

Howard hasn't played since finishing with 20 points and 22 rebounds in a win over Philadelphia on Saturday.

Not surprisingly, the Magic have been soft inside defensively without the three-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year, allowing an average of 44.5 points in the paint in the four games he's missed - 7.8 more than their season average.

That doesn't bode well for facing an Atlanta team averaging 52.5 points in the paint in four games this month. However, facing the Hawks has rarely turned out well lately for the Magic even when Howard is healthy.

Atlanta (34-24) is tied with Orlando for fifth in the East and owns the tiebreaker, having won the first two meetings in the three-game season series.

The Hawks have won five consecutive regular-season contests over the Magic and took a first-round playoff series from them last April in six games.

In the last five meetings during the regular season, Atlanta has limited Orlando to 80.4 points per game on 39.0 percent shooting while holding Howard to an average of 16.0 points.

Josh Smith had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks in the last meeting - an 83-78 home win Feb. 23 - and finished with 23 points and 19 boards in an 89-87 overtime victory at Amway Arena on Feb. 10.

Smith has averaged 23.5 points and 9.6 rebounds in his last 11 games overall.

He had his 26th double-double Wednesday with 20 points and 11 boards, but Atlanta missed 18 of 20 3-point attempts and lost 88-86 in overtime at Boston. The Hawks, who averaged 112.3 points in winning their previous three games, had won eight of 11 since suffering a three-point home loss to the Celtics on March 19.

"It's twice now we've played this Boston team and the game has come down to the final few seconds of the game and we didn't make the plays," coach Larry Drew said. "We have to learn from it and, more importantly, we need to move on from it."

The Hawks could use a bounce-back performance from Marvin Williams after he finished with four points on 2-of-7 shooting. He had averaged 13.3 points on 65.0 percent shooting in the previous three games, and Atlanta has won its last six contests when the reserve forward scores at least 12.

This is one of only two road games over the final eight contests for the Hawks.

Hawks shoot way past Howard-less Magic 109-81

By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Posted Apr 13 2012 11:05PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Last year Atlanta became one the early surprise teams of the playoffs when it beat Orlando in the first round.

Despite playing most of this season without one of their biggest pieces, the Hawks again look like the more capable team opposite a Magic squad they used to always be one step behind.

Jannero Pargo hit five 3-pointers and had 17 points, and Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Marvin Williams each scored 16 as the Atlanta Hawks took advantage of a Magic team playing without center Dwight Howard, cruising to a 109-81 victory on Friday night

The Hawks earned their third straight win over the Magic this season and have now won six consecutive regular-season meetings over their division mates. All three of the victories have come without center Al Horford, who played only 11 games this season before tearing the pectoral in his left shoulder.

Atlanta shot 50 percent from the field (40 for 79), including 14 3-pointers. The Hawks led by 35 at one point.

"We've been in situations this year where key players were out for the opposition and we haven't come out and played with energy and intensity," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "I thought we did that from start to finish. We stayed the course. I'm real proud of that."

Pargo said it was a situation where the Hawks were able to take advantage of the looks at the basket the Magic gave them.

"I think we did a good job of running the offense," he said. "Our offense doesn't change. It doesn't matter who they have on the floor. Our offense doesn't change. Same offense, just a little more crisp today. We played hard and we played together."

Glen Davis and Von Wafer each scored 16 points to lead the Magic. Orlando lost its second straight and fell to 1-4 without center Dwight Howard, who sat for the fifth time in seven games with back spasms.

It appears Howard's absence will be even longer, though, with the team announcing after the game that Howard was diagnosed with a herniated disk in his lower back by Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles.

Howard flew out there earlier Friday for a second opinion for what had previously been called back spasms since he injured his back at the end of March.

There is no timetable for his return and it will be based on how he responds to treatment.

Howard is scheduled to fly back to Orlando on Saturday.

Smith, a friend of Howard's going back to preschool in Atlanta, visited Howard's home Thursday and said he "was pretty much in his room getting a massage" on his back.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy says Howard was in pain following the team's practice Thursday and the coach wasn't optimistic he'll be ready to play at Cleveland on Sunday or against Philadelphia on Monday even before his latest diagnosis.

The Magic entered Friday tied for fifth place in the Eastern Conference with Atlanta, though the Hawks hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Atlanta took over sole possession of fifth with the win.

None of the Magic players said they'd heard an update of Howard's status afterwards, but said it didn't effect what they needed to do over their final seven games.

"We have to have a better mindset by going forward - no excuses," said Magic guard J.J. Redick. "In order to be a lot better, we have to figure out defensively a way to play defense better. Because obviously we're going to miss having Dwight on that end of the floor a lot."

The Hawks exploited Howard's absence in the middle from the opening tip, driving the ball into the heart of the Magic's defense at will in the early going.

Atlanta scored 16 points in the paint in the first quarter and shot 75 percent (15 for 20) from the field to build a 13-point lead. That advantage grew to 62-42 at the half, with the Hawks still shooting 56 percent (22 for 39) heading into the break.

The Magic briefly showed life, pulling to 74-60 late in the third quarter, but it was short-lived as the Hawks' 15-2 run quickly pushed the lead to 27 and they were able to cruise the rest of the way.

It got so bad in the fourth quarter as the Hawks' lead reached 30 points that the Magic were even whistled for a technical for excessive timeouts.

The real damage was done much earlier, though.

The 62 points scored by Atlanta in the first half was a new high for a Magic opponent in the opening half this season, surpassing the old mark of 60 set by Milwaukee last month.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who had managed to control his usually fiery temper with referees this season, was also whistled for his first technical foul of the season for arguing what appeared to be questionable offensive foul call on Von Wafer late in the half.

"I was really upset, especially with our starters," Van Gundy said of his team's effort. "They just didn't bring anything to the game. We didn't run back, we didn't get matched up. They got too many easy shots...It was a defensive problem that became an offensive problem."

NOTES: Pargo's five 3-pointers tied a season-high. ... The Magic fell to 4-10 when an opponent scores 100 or more points. ... With his fifth missed regular-season game Howard set a new personal high for missed games in a season. He missed four games last season. Prior to this season Howard had only missed two games in his career due to injury. The rest were either because of illness or suspension.

Notebook: Hawks 109, Magic 81

Posted Friday April 13, 2012 11:40PM

By Dick Scanlon, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Six Hawks scored in double figured and Atlanta never trailed in a 109-81 rout of the Orlando Magic.

Jannero Pargo came off the Hawks bench with five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points against a Magic team playing without center Dwight Howard, who has a herniated disc in his lower back.

Josh Smith had 16 points and eight rebounds for Atlanta and set the early stage along with Joe Johnson, who also scored 16.

Glen Davis, starting at center for Orlando, hard 16 point nd nine rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "If we keep getting bench production like that over the next six or seven games going into the playoffs, we are going to be a scary ball club in the postseason."
-- Hawks forward Josh Smith

THE STAT: The Hawks shot 51 percent for the game despite hoisting 35 3-point shots.

QUOTABLE II: "We've played five games without Dwight and in four of them we've given up over 50 percent (shooting). When that happens four times in five games, you're not putting anything in the game defensively."
-- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy

TURNING POINT: An early 13-point Atlanta lead had been cut to seven when Tracy McGrady posted up Earl Clark for this first basket midway through the second quarter, sparking an 18-5 rally that left Atlanta with a 20-point halftime lead.

HOT: Pargo made his first five 3-point shots.

NOT: Magic forward Ryan Anderson missed all eight of his 3-point shots, ending his league-long streak of consecutive games in which he made at least one at 34.

GOOD MOVE: After starting point guard Jeff Teague was called for two fouls in the first quarter, Hawks coach Larry Drew went with Tracy McGrady for the entire second quarter. The 6-foot-8 McGrady used his matchup advantage for nine points in the quarter.

QUOTABLE III: "I thought with him in the lineup, it posed a bit of a problem from a matchup standpoint for them and we started having success with the matchup."
-- Hawks coach Larry Drew

BAD MOVE: Having used their allotment of timeouts, the Magic were assessed an "excessive timeout technical foul" for not being able to call one in the last six minutes.

NOTABLE: The Hawks have won 10 of their last 12 games against the Magic, including all three this season and four of six in the first round of the playoffs last spring. ... Stan Van Gundy was whistled for his first technical foul of the season.

UP NEXT: For the Hawks, Sunday vs. Toronto, Monday @ Toronto, Wednesday vs. Detroit. For the Magic, Sunday @ Cleveland, Monday vs. Philadelphia, Wednesday @ Boston.

• Hawks: Horford, Johnson
• Magic: Howard, Turkoglu

• Hawks: --
• Magic: Redick, Van Gundy

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
• Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #16 David Guthrie, #54 Nick Buchert
• Attendance: 18846
• Duration: 1:59