Until halftime on Monday evening, the Atlanta Hawks were playing improved basketball. That level of play resulted in a road win over the weekend and a lead over the Brooklyn Nets after 24 minutes of action but, after that, the wheels careened off the wagon to the tune of a 20-point home loss. On Wednesday, though, the team will have the opportunity to rid itself of that terrible taste with a trip to Orlando to take on the Magic.

Orlando has scuffled mightily since a lights-out start to the season and that brings some optimism to the table here. The Magic have received quality efforts from Aaron Gordon and others this season but, from an overall standpoint, the home team does not possess an overwhelming talent advantage over Atlanta and, even if they do have something of an edge on a position-by-position basis over the undermanned Hawks, there is room for maneuvering.

It will be interesting to see how Mike Budenholzer handles the rotation in this particular spot, with Gordon serving as Orlando’s power forward despite a varied and impressive skill set. Will the Hawks go to “small ball” looks early and often? Can the available big men stay out of foul trouble? What will Miles Plumlee look like after one good and one rough performance? Questions abound.

The Magic enter the proceedings as 6.5-point favorites (at least at the time of this post) in Las Vegas and that provides the “wise guy” point of view here. Atlanta is capable of pulling off an upset, however, and that always brings a bit of additional intrigue to the table. Stay tuned.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Wednesday, December 6, 7:00 p.m. ET

Location: Amway Center

TV: Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Go, NBA League Pass

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta)