Magic Blew The Hawks Out By 25; Hawks Still Have Series Lead 3-2

SUPER AMAZING QUICK RECAP

Hawks & Magic were trading misses in the first six minutes of game. Dwight gets in foul trouble, forced to sit last 5 minutes of first quarter. Without Dwight, Orlando Magic’s offense started moving the ball and their perimeter shots started to go in. JJ Redick led the way in the last 5 minutes, scoring 11 points. The Orlando Magic were +12 in the 5 minutes Dwight sat out in the first quarter, and the Magic led by 13 after one. Second quarter starts and Orlando continued to shoot and convert. Hawks meanwhile continued their offensive struggles from the first quarter, into the second quarter.  The Orlando Magic just showed that they were in a different (and better) gear than the Hawks and they blew this game out by halftime as they led 23 points. Third quarter, nothing changed. Fourth quarter, garbage play. Game ends. Hawks lose by 25 points.

Not much to say about this game, but I believe there are three things I think people should be able to take from this the game…

1. The Hawks are still a question mark in my eyes. Will the real Atlanta Hawks team please stand up?
2. The Orlando Magic are capable of winning this series and become the 9th team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit.
3. One game can skew a person’s perception. Before Game 5, a lot people were on board the Hawks bandwagon. After Game 5, a lot of people are now thinking the Magic will win the series.

Point 1: In Games 1-4, I felt the Hawks grew up. They seemed more focused and mature. They obviously didn’t play perfectly in every  single minute of the first 4 games, but they played with effort, intensity, and toughness. I didn’t see that in Game 5. Orlando clearly wanted it more and played with more effort and intensity. The physical play down low was nowhere to be seen either. The Hawks we saw in Games 1-4 is the kind of Hawks team I wouldn’t mind watching and rooting for. The Hawks team that we saw in Game 5 was the Hawks team that we saw in every (blowout) loss in the regular season. The one that looks like a lottery team. Just when you thought the Hawks are building a good identity, they do something like this. We’re back to the guessing game that we did every game in the regular season. Which Hawks team will show up next game, the good one or bad one?

Point 2: The Orlando Magic made it clear that this series isn’t over. When they are hitting their jumpshots, they’re a real dangerous team. So dangerous that having Dwight Howard score only 8 points and grab 8 rebounds the entire game is okay because it still leads to a 25 point blowout. But it wasn’t the Magic’s perimeter success that contributed to a win. The defense was good too which made the Hawks struggle to get it going. If one of the two (perimeter shots or defense) is successful for the Magic, the Magic will have a chance to win any game.  The Magic are only two games away from winning this series and that’s doable. If they somehow carry over the momentum they got from Game 5 to Game Six and win the game, they’ll steal back homecourt advantage again and they will host a Game 7. And as we all know, the home team in Game 7 is usually the team that wins. This series isn’t over yet. I hope the Hawks know that.

Point 3: After the Hawks won Game 4 and extended the playoff series lead to 3-1, almost everyone (including me) was thinking that the Hawks have a great chance of upsetting the Magic and move on to the 2nd round. Because of the Magic win yesterday, almost everyone (including me) is now thinking that the Magic have a good chance of winning the series. Things can quickly change after one game.

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Some things worth mentioning….

• Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford did not look comfortable. They were pressing, throwing up contested jumper after contested jumper. Sure, Jamal did that in Games 1-4, but it seemed like because the Hawks got down early, the two players felt they needed to take over. Neither did obviously. Joe finished with 5 points (not a typo…) in 2-12 shooting and Jamal finished with 8 points in 2-8 shooting. One of the two needs to break out of that slump for Game six. If both are struggling, Al Horford, Josh Smith, or someone else better be having close to a career night.
• Josh Smith, statistically speaking, was the Hawks best player. He scored 22 points and grabbed 11 points. However, if you watched the game, you could tell he probably hurt the team more than he helped the team. His shot selection was once again horrible and his overall decision making once again makes me want to cry. He provided the most energy out of any Hawks player, but the energy he gave (especially early in the game) was bad energy. He tried to do things he couldn’t do and ended up hurting the team more. I’m not going to “hate” on him too much though, he was in good company last night. There wasn’t a Hawks player that played spectacular.
• The Hawks got to the free throw line 32 times but only converted 22 of them.
• Every Orlando Magic player that played scored. Yes, Malik Allen did play…and yes, he did score…
• JJ Redick and Jason Richardson in my opinion were the two best Orlando Magic players last night. Dwight Howard did change things on the defensive end, but I would call his performance yesterday sub-par since he had a lot better games than that in the past. JJ Redick and Jason Richardson on the other hand had their best game of the series. Redick scored 14 points in 6 for 8 shooting (19 minutes) and Richardson scored a team high 17 points in 6-14 shooting (25 minutes). It seemed like every shot they put up went in. Some of them were heavily contested too.

Next up: Back to Atlanta. Hopefully Philips Arena will be rocking and energetic like it was in Game 3 & 4. Game Six will be played on Thursday and will be televised on NBATV at 7:30 PM Eastern Time.

Final Thought: I feel the Orlando Magic are capable of winning this series, but if I were to put money on it, I would still say Hawks win this series. Just don’t panic too much Hawks fans. It’s just one game (telling myself that too…). Who knows? Maybe the Hawks can once again “flip the switch” and start playing amazingly in Game 6.