Despite a valiant comeback on Saturday afternoon, the Atlanta Hawks fell short at the hands of the Boston Celtics. While that was the expected result in many ways, the Hawks were encouragingly competitive and, on Sunday evening, Trae Young and company will take on the Orlando Magic on the second night of back-to-back.
Unlike the Hawks, the Magic will be on full rest, as Orlando was last on the floor during a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday evening. Because of that (and home-court advantage), the Magic enter this game as the betting favorite to pick up another victory and, given the track record between Atlanta and Orlando this season, that makes sense.
The Magic are 2-0 against the Hawks this season, with both victories coming in (very) comfortable fashion at State Farm Arena. In general, Lloyd Pierce’s team has been better, at least when compared to expectations, away from home but the sledding may be challenging in Orlando given the circumstances this time around.
From an injury standpoint, the Hawks have not released an official report but all signs point to the unavailability of the trio of Omari Spellman, Alex Poythress and Miles Plumlee. For the Magic, lottery pick Mo Bamba joins Isaiah Briscoe, Markelle Fultz and Timofey Mozgov on the sideline but, in the same breath, the top players on both sides project to be available in this spot.
In the end, it will be interesting to see how the Hawks respond with the grueling travel situation but, on the optimistic side, Atlanta was done playing by 3:00 pm ET on Saturday, leaving a bit of extra time between games.
Stay tuned throughout the day for all the latest.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Sunday, March 17, 6:00 pm ET
Location: Amway Center
TV: Fox Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass (out of market)
Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta); Hawks Radio Network
Streaming: Fox Sports Go