Hawks fall to Magic in second preseason tilt, 97-88

The Atlanta Hawks hosted the Orlando Magic for their second preseason contest tonight. Kevin Huerter was out of the lineup again tonight as he works his way back into shape. Lloyd Pierce said “he just needs to practice” before the game and hinted he should be good to go before long.

Evan Turner, Allen Crabbe and Chandler Parsons were all out again. Pierce expressed the team is not worried about Turner missing the preseason and that he should be good to go by the start of the regular season next week. Crabbe and Parsons, however, should be sidelined longer than that.

The Hawks offered an altered starting lineup from the one they ran out Monday night against New Orleans, with Trae Young, DeAndre’ Bembry, Cam Reddish, John Collins and Alex Len drawing starts on Wednesday.

Reddish took the lid off early for Atlanta.

Young with his first three of the contest.

De’Andre Hunter fighting for a tough bucket against a gigantic Orlando back line.

Bembry with a nice finish off the in-bounds pass from Young.

The first quarter was largely sloppy, with the Hawks having eight turnovers compared to only six made baskets, while posting an offensive rating below 75, yet somehow took a 20-18 lead into the second.

Ill-advised shot by Jabari Parker but cleaned up by Bruno Fernando.

The second quarter was mostly more of the same, as both teams struggled to score for much of the period. Things picked up for both sides towards the end of the half, but Atlanta still carried 33.3 percent shooting from the floor and 4-for-20 from three-point-range into the half with 15 turnovers, while Orlando wasn’t far ahead shooting 35 percent from the floor. The Magic carried a 46-44 lead into the half, with the game still well within reach for Atlanta despite the sloppy offensive play.

Young led the way offensively with 11 points to go with six rebounds and four assists, while he did commit four turnovers in the first half. Bembry finished the half with seven points, five rebounds and three assists.

Collins struggled mightily in the opening half, to the tune of 0-for-7 shooting from the floor with only one point and two rebounds. Hunter had six points and three rebounds in what was an impressive half for the rookie on both ends of the floor.

Hunter kicked off the scoring in the second half for Atlanta.

The third quarter was another one in which offense wasn’t exactly clicking for either side, with Orlando outscoring Atlanta in the period 24-23. Turnovers again plagued the Hawks, as they racked up over 20 through the third.

Orlando took control of the game early in the fourth as more messy Atlanta offense ensued. Despite the overall sloppy play, the first play call of the quarter actually went well:

The Hawks battled to stay in the game in the fourth but ultimately the lack of chemistry and high volume of turnovers plagued them as they posted an offensive rating below 90. The Magic were not much better offensively, but capitalized on Atlanta’s mistakes with 21 points off of 27 turnovers by the Hawks in route to a 97-88 win.

Young finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and nine turnovers across his 28 minutes. Collins struggled to the tune of 0-for-8 shooting across 23 minutes, scoring just two points at the free throw line to go with four rebounds. Reddish finished with four points on 1-for-7 shooting from the floor in his 14 minutes.

Hunter perhaps had the best overall game for Atlanta, scoring 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting with five rebounds and blocked shot. He also played solid position defense for the second time in as many games this preseason.