Atlanta Hawks: Rapid Reactions to Home Loss Against the Magic
By Dallin Duffy
The Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic faced off in a mid-afternoon match on Monday. They fought hard but lost to their division rival, 122-103.
As they’ve done many times this season, the Atlanta Hawks came out firing, gaining an early lead, but again squandered that before too long. Orlando rallied to a 12-0 run mid second quarter, taking the lead they wouldn’t give back.
In terms of positives, Dewayne Dedmon was terrific today, matching his career-high with 24 points, including 5 bombs from beyond the arc.
He has great range for a 7-footer, making him an attractive trade target for multiple teams.
Across the court, the other center and likely All-star Nikola Vucevic had himself a game for the fringe playoff squad, posting 29 points and 14 boards in 34 minutes. veteran scorer Evan Fournier was right there with him, matching his point total, and making 8 free throws to go along with 7 assists.
The Magic as a team made the most of their trips to the line, making 19 of 21 compared to the Hawks’ 16 makes on 23 attempts.
As mentioned earlier, the Hawks got off to a nice start, and their 31 points in the first period was the most in any quarter for them. They did so even with a last-minute change to the starting five, as Kevin Huerter came out in a suit minutes after being announced as a starter.
Taurean Prince made his first start in over a month in his place and wasn’t very effective, scoring 9 points on 10 shots. Trae Young scored 21 despite not knocking down a three, but did dish out 6 of the Hawks’ 23 assists.
John Collins led the Atlanta Hawks in rebounds again, and now has 10 or more in 6 of his last 8 games. His scoring wasn’t there throughout the night as it has been throughout the year, but he was still able to connect with Trae for a few highlight plays.
Martin Luther King Day brought a frenzy of festivities to State Farm Arena, but the Hawks weren’t able to bring the energy to the court today. The loss is their 32nd of the year, a mark that only 4 teams have surpassed. After a hot streak after Christmas, it looks like the tank is back on track.
Box score notes:
- Vince Carter clocked just 6 minutes tonight, and he’s now down to 13 minutes a game since the turn to the 2019 calendar year. The 42-year old could be just taking a bit to rest his body, or Lloyd Pierce could be turning his attention to the young talent like Daniel Hamilton.
- Kevin Huerter had gotten 30 or more minutes in 10 straight appearances, so today’s neck injury could have also been influenced by a much needed day off.
- DeAndre’ Bembry had a nice little bounce back from a awful game Saturday, scoring 11 with 7 assists and 4 steals.
They’ve surely would have liked to win this one at home, a place they won’t be for quite sometime. The Atlanta Hawks now embark on a 7-day road trip that will stretch them from the west to east coast, and everywhere in between.
They’ll be up in Chicago Wednesday, where they’ll look for their 15th win.