Official Game Thread: Hawks - Magic

[lethalweapon3]

Do you believe in magic?

If so, then last night’s overtime victory over the Bobcats, pulled out of the Atlanta Hawks’ collective wazoo and punctuated by that Captain Morgan-esque heave from Pero Antić to tie the game in regulation, would come as no surprise to you.

Believing in the 9-20 Orlando Magic right now probably takes a little more effort. Coach Jacque Vaughn continues to patch together lineups and rotations among a host of tradebait veterans and budding youthful talents. While Vaughn’s working to identify a functional and competitive core for next season’s roster, this season’s edition comes into tonight’s contest with the 17-13 Hawks (6:00 PM Eastern, SportSouth, SUN Network) with upstart players vying to earn steadier floor time.

The Magic are aiming for their first two-game winning streak since back-to-back wins on November 26-27, when they thrashed the Hawks in Atlanta 109-92 before flying home to beat the 76ers.

Magic mainstay Jameer Nelson continues to hold the seat warm at point guard, grooming athletic rookie Victor Oladipo to take over full-time. Oladipo’s 11 assists off the bench (just one turnover) and 16 points keyed a rout of the Detroit Pistons on Friday, Orlando’s first win amid a six-game holiday homestand that concludes on New Year’s Eve. Oladipo following up after Nelson creates quite a change-up for Vaughn to deploy against the Hawks’ point guards.

Oladipo will be looking to give-and-go with his frontline talents Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris. Vucevic has been a steady rebounding presence for Orlando, and hopes Atlanta’s Horford-less frontcourt is good and tenderized after dealing with Charlotte’s Al Jefferson all night. Harris was fighting ankle problems and was unavailable for the November 26 contest in Atlanta. Having started in all four games of this homestand (16.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG), Harris is getting back to the breakout numbers he put up late last season for Orlando.

Spelling Elton Brand, former Magic Man Gustavo Ayón will try to improve on his 0-for-5 effort in that Nov. 26 meeting, where Atlanta’s reserves shot just 35.5 FG%. Mike Scott shot just 1-for-6 in that game, and in his prior visit to O-Town on November 9, he dropped 17 points but struggled in defense as Orlando stormed back from 17 points down before the Hawks starters returned to put the game away.

Andrew Nicholson (18 points and 8 boards on Nov. 26) has struggled of late (3.8 PPG in his last five games; 14.7 MPG) and was a DNP-CD against Detroit. His minutes are a casualty of Harris’ ability to create mismatches at power forward. Big Baby Davis continues to wreak his usual havoc as a starter, but for now, Harris is taking the lead as the primary sub at the 4-spot. With E’Twaun Moore coming back to play tonight and the team trying to get Mo Harkless going, Nicholson is the squeezeplay victim at the moment, despite his mid-range shooting capacities.

DeMarre Carroll gave it a go for the Hawks last night, but playing with the sprained thumb was still painful. He’ll stay home and hope Atlanta can find someone that can handle Arron Afflalo. Vaughn replaced Oladipo at the shooting guard spot by shifting Afflalo, making the latter’s defensive responsibilities less taxing. Kyle Korver and Cartier Martin (if he's available) will have to be active defensively if Atlanta hopes to contain Afflalo, who ranks in the NBA Top 15 for minutes (37.7 MPG), 3-point field goal percentage (44.4 3FG%), and points (22.0 PPG). He shot 82% (9-for-11) from the field against Detroit on Friday.

The Threak ought to move into triple digits today! Korver will face a Magic team whose opponents shoot 37.8% (4^th most in NBA) from three-point territory, but held him to 1-for-6 shooting (all 3-point attempts) on Nov. 26. They’re particularly vulnerable along the corners, where Magic foes shoot 44.7% (5^th most in NBA). Even after hitting the century mark, there’s good reason to try and keep this thing going. As far as I’m aware, no NBA player has ever made a three-pointer in every appearance over the course of an 82-game season (minimum 70 games). Kyle could get as far as 78-for-78 if he can stay healthy.

Triple-digit scoring for (and against) the Hawks is The New Normal. Look for another dual high-scoring affair this evening, as it suits the Magic well. They are 5-6 when they climb above the 100-point mark, 4-14 otherwise. Bob Rathbun notes that no NBA team has ever played in four consecutive overtime games. There’s no reason it couldn’t happen again tonight, so hopefully Bob and Nique are getting paid time-and-a-half. Whether it’s for themselves, or their opponents, Hawks basketball is where the magic happens!

Go Hawks!

~lw3

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[Ebert]

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Coach Bud addressing the media now. Says Jeff, Lou, Kyle, Paul and Elton will start http://t.co/FhxEEos1oR

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Edited December 29, 2013 by Ebert

[Pacman21]

The team looks sluggish the three pointers are keeping them in it tho

[Rick]

It feels like we have been struggling the whole time in this game, but somehow we are now leading.

[Ruckus]

Menace is finally getting some meaningful minutes and is looking pretty good. Great to see.

[Ruckus]

Turnovers. Damn.

[ViperXX79]

I'd say Millsap has fallen in love with the 3 ball. Teague tries to run the pick and roll with him but Paul's first move is to go back to the 3 point line off the screen. Reminds me of Josh running the PnR with Teague in previous years. Paul has a good mid range shot and needs to take those so it makes them respect him more. They let him float to the line and doubled Teague who had no where to go with the ball.

[DJlaysitup]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Pacman21]

Something has to be done about the C spot. Pero's ok as a backup but EB has both feet in the retirement home

[diamond_dave]

No good. These guys are tired. Oh well everybody goes through it...

[JETSET]

I expected a loss tonight. These guys were running on E after 3 straight overtime games and playing a back-to-back with a short roster. I'm impressed that we hung around as well as we did.