Magic vs Hawks preview: Atlanta aims for revenge in rematch with Orlando

The Atlanta Hawks battled valiantly to battle back from a significant deficit against the Orlando Magic on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, Nikola Vucevic wouldn't allow Mike Budenholzer's team to fully prosper, as Orlando's standout big man knocked down a contested fadeaway jumper at the buzzer for the win. In an interesting turn of events, the same two teams get together exactly one day later, and this time, the home team will be looking for revenge in the form of a win.

The Hawks had a three-game winning streak snapped in the first game of the back-to-back set, and in truth, Atlanta had only itself to blame for coming up short in this instance. An ugly start put the team in a big hole that was a serious challenge to emerge from, and it was a borderline heroic effort to tie the game in the first place. Jeff Teague put together a strong performance (24 points on 17 shots), but Al Horford and Paul Millsap combined to make only 9 of their 29 field goal attempts, and it was a rough day (3 of 18 shooting) for the entire bench unit.

It is exceedingly difficult for any team to beat another on back-to-back days, and that plays into Atlanta's hands in this instance. However, the Magic played quite well in the absence of Tobias Harris on Sunday afternoon, and the Hawks will need to string together an above-average performance to ensure victory.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, February 8, 8:00 p.m. ET

Location: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

TV: NBATV, Fox Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass

Radio: 92.9 "The Game" FM