Atlanta Hawks Fall to Orlando Magic in 2nd Preseason Game

The Atlanta Hawks lost to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night by a final margin of 97 to 88. Read on to explore details of the tightly contested loss.

Though it was a far more competitive affair than the team’s first preseason game, the Atlanta Hawks have now lost 5 consecutive games to the Magic dating back to the start of the regular season last year.

Orlando rode a typically understated – yet brilliant – performance from Nikola Vucevic (13 points, 4 rebounds, +14 in 22 minutes) as well as an impressive volume scoring performance from Terrence Ross (20 points on 17 shots).  That was really all the Magic needed as the Hawks’ offense came up looking quite anemic throughout much of this game.

Beyond committing an atrocious 27 turnovers (following 29 in the team’s first preseason game, John Collins looked completely out of sorts and rookie Cam Reddish followed up a promising first game with a 4-point, 1-of-7 shooting performance (0 of 5 from deep) against the Magic on Wednesday.

Certainly, the preseason is all about setting the table for what will hopefully be a regular season filled to the brim with success across the board.

On a positive note, this was a far more impressive effort on the defensive end from pretty much every player on the Atlanta Hawks. Even Trae Young, who was notably one of the worst defenders in the NBA last season, produced what was likely his best performance on the less glamorous end on Wednesday.

Another noted non-defender, Jabari Parker, had a particularly good game all-around off the bench with 11 points and 9 rebounds in 21 minutes with a +9 in those minutes. His defense was also rather impressive for someone who once stated “he doesn’t get paid to play defense.”

It’s only the preseason, but this was a more promising performance from the Atlanta Hawks, but as has been stated before, they must cut down on the fouls (23) and turnovers (27) if they truly want to take the next step as a team.