Hawks Beat Magic, Drop to 3rd-Best Lottery Odds

Tyler Dorsey had a banner game, scoring a career-high 19 points on a career-high 8 field goals. Dorsey was extremely efficient in this one too, as it only took him 11 shots to get those 19 points. Dorsey was stroking from all over the court, and his three-ball looked sharp as well, going 3 of 5 from deep.

Though Dorsey nabbed zero rebounds, he had 2 assists and had a game-high +16 in box plus/minus. He also got up for a nice two-handed dunk to close out the 1^st quarter.

When Dorsey is on, he looks like an important building block for the Hawks’ future. If he could simply find some consistency with his shot, his role in the league would carve itself out.

Behind Dorsey’s scoring, the Hawks had a trio of double-doubles from their big men. John Collins and Dewayne Dedmon had double-doubles in the starting lineup, and Mike Muscala logged one off the bench.

John Collins, as always, had his fair share of highlights and finished with 10 points on 5 of 9 shooting (0 of 3 from deep), 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 assist as well as a stunning dunk in traffic on fellow rookie Jonathan Isaac.

Though Collins’s outside shot was not falling, his defensive rebounding was strong but again, the Magic were only putting up minor effort to stop him from hoovering up every carom. Collins has had a great season overall and this performance was no exception — perhaps if he played in a bigger market he would be getting in the First Team All-Rookie conversation.

Dewayne Dedmon was in volume shooting mode, putting up 16 shots for his 17 points. He did affect the game with his rebounding, fighting much harder for his 10 boards than JC did. Dedmon also had 3 assists and 1 block in a team-high 33 minutes – putting his all-around personal stamp on this victory for the Hawks.

Elsewhere among the starters, Taurean Waller-Prince was in pass-first mode, and he used those skills to great effect in this game – tying his career-high with 8 assists, including this sweet half-court alley-oop dime to Dewayne Dedmon for the jam:

Sure, Prince had 4 turnovers to those 8 assists and he was a -4 BPM in 26 minutes, but his passing skills are apparent when he has them cooking. If he can cut down on the bad passes, he’ll be a solid pick-and-roll ballhandler for the Hawks in the future.

Mike Muscala, as mentioned, picked up his double-double with 13 points on 5 of 11 shooting (3 of 9 from deep) and 10 rebounds, along with 3 assists and a +11 BPM.

Josh Magette, ironically, just helped Atlanta’s G-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, defeat Orlando’s G-League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic, in the G-League playoffs last week. Here too, Magette’s passing prowess was instrumental in flattening the Magic on this night.

Though Orlando were victimizing Magette’s undersized frame, his passing vision and ability are truly breathtaking, and he also plays with a certain pace and IQ level that almost no one else on the Hawks possesses. Magette was making things happen out there, and finished with 5 assists, 5 points, 2 rebounds and a +11 BPM in only 18 minutes of action – completely changing the momentum in the Hawks’ favor in the 2^nd quarter when he came in.

Lastly, DeAndre’ Bembry saw action for the first time since a February 23 game against the Pacers. Bembry looked good as he continues to shake off the ill effects of an undisclosed abdominal injury. His athleticism did not seem hampered, and he even finished this tough layup after a nice outlet pass from The Prince That Was Promised:

Bembry also hunkered down in his defensive stance, and it’s clear that he would be one of the Hawks’ best perimeter defenders if he ever gets back to 100%. Let’s hope it happens soon, or that he at least stays healthy in the offseason.

Next: Atlanta Hawks Mock Draft 3.0

The Hawks are off tomorrow but return to action Tuesday against the Miami Heat for a 7:30 p.m. EST tipoff.