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Preview: Hawks square off with Magic on second night of home back-to-back

Another one at State Farm Arena.

NBA: Orlando Magic at Atlanta Hawks Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

UPDATE: John Collins (right anterior knee pain) is listed as probable for Sunday’s game.


In an odd quirk of scheduling, the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic didn’t face off until MLK Day in late January. Because the two teams are division rivals, they must fit an entire four-game season series into less than three months and the second installment will take place on Sunday night at State Farm Arena.

The Hawks fell flat on Saturday evening in the first half of a back-to-back set, scuffling on the defensive end on the way to a defeat against the Hornets. In contrast, the Magic also played on Saturday but pulled off a strong performance, going into Milwaukee and inexplicably knocking off the scalding-hot Bucks by a 20-point margin.

In fact, Orlando enters this game on a hot streak, having won four of the past five games. Atlanta has cooled after an impressive road trip in losing two straight home contests and, as a result, the Magic actually enter as road favorites (by two points) even on their own back-to-back.

From an injury standpoint, the Hawks continue to be at virtually full strength (at least at the time of this post), with only Jaylen Adams and Miles Plumlee showing up on Saturday’s injury report. Orlando is a bit more dinged up, with both Mo Bamba and recently acquired point guard Markelle Fultz on the shelf, but the Magic’s core starting lineup should be available and that means an intriguing battle between All-Star center Nikola Vucevic and Atlanta’s frontline featuring John Collins.

Stay tuned throughout the day for all the latest from State Farm Arena.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Sunday, Feb. 10, 7:30 pm ET

Location: State Farm Arena

TV: Fox Sports Southeast

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta); Hawks Radio Network

Streaming: Fox Sports Go; NBA League Pass (out of market)