Hawks blown out by Magic in Orlando, 149-113

The Atlanta Hawks traveled to Orlando to take on the Magic in what was the second-to-last road game of their season. Orlando were out for blood in what was a wire-to-wire domination of Atlanta, who could just not seem to generate any sort of run throughout the game. The Magic eventually took care of business in a game that was over midway through the second quarter, racking up the points in a 149-113 final score.

Young started off the scoring with a three, but the Hawks would not lead for long.

Orlando responded by going on a 31-4 run in the ensuing moments, getting up to a 31-7 lead in the first seven minutes of play. The Atlanta offense was abysmal in the opening period, as they scored only 13 points in the first ten minutes of play and trailed by as many as 29 by the end of the first.

The legend of Justin Anderson continued despite the onslaught.

The Magic got out to a 54-23 lead just over three minutes into the second, prompting yet another Hawks timeout. Atlanta remained down 30-plus points for the bulk of the second period, offering little to no resistance. The lead reached as high as 38, with Orlando scoring points in the first half.

DeAndre’ Bembry had a nice move and generally provided energy for Atlanta off the bench, but it was far too little, too late.

The visitors mounted a 9-0 run late in the second, but to no avail as they still trailed by 33 at halftime. Orlando scored a franchise record 81 points in the first two quarters despite committing 12 turnovers.

Young led all Atlanta scorers with ten points to go along with four assists. Alex Len posted nine points and three rebounds in the first half.

Nikola Vucevic led Orlando first-half scorers with 17.

The Hawks never even made a run in the second half, as they trailed by more than 30 for the majority of the final 24 minutes. Young was something of a bright spot offensively, scoring 22 points in 27 minutes, also picking up seven boards, six assists (two turnovers) and three steals.

Young was okay offensively, but the team as a whole struggled mightily on the defensive end, as Orlando notched 40 points in the paint in the first half alone. Atlanta was outrebounded 33-18 in the first half, while Orlando shot 9-for-16 (56.3%) from three-point range and 31-for-47 (66%) overall from the floor in the first two quarters. The game was basically over from there, with Atlanta never being within 20 in the final three periods. The entire second half was essentially extended garbage time, with the lead hovering around 35 for much of the final 24 minutes.

Orlando needed this game to increase their chances of reaching the Eastern Conference playoffs, as they held a slim .5 game lead for the eighth seed over the Miami Heat entering play this evening.

Vucevic lead the way for the Magic, with 25 points (9-for-13), 11 boards and four assists. Evan Fournier also tallied 25 points for the hosts.

The Hawks will be back in action for the final road game of the season Sunday night (7 pm ET) at the Milwaukee Bucks, who may be looking to avenge Young’s overtime game-winner from last Sunday. Atlanta finishes the season next Wednesday at home when they host the Indiana Pacers.