Magic roll past Hawks, 122-103
ATLANTA— Though only 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, the Orlando Magic are talking about their playoff hopes.
One spot back in 12th, the Atlanta Hawks have not shown the consistency needed to join that discussion.
Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic scored 29 points apiece to lead the Magic to a 122-103 victory over the Hawks on Monday in the season’s first matchup between the Southeast Division rivals.
Vucevic had 14 rebounds and Fournier had seven assists as Orlando snapped a three-game losing streak.
Dewayne Dedmon led Atlanta with 24 points on the holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. and in the city where the civil rights leader was born.
The Magic had targeted road games this week against the Hawks and Nets as starting points for a turnaround.
“We said these next couple games can define our season,” Vucevic said. “… We understand if we don’t wake up it’s going to be really, really hard for us.”
The win left the Magic only 2 1/2 games behind eighth-place Charlotte in the East.
“We’re doing everything we can to get into that eighth spot,” Fournier said.
By contrast, Atlanta is 5 1/2 games behind Orlando in the conference standings. The young Hawks have lessons to learn about consistency.
“In the first quarter I thought we were good,” said rookie Trae Young, referring to Atlanta’s 31-28 early lead. “After that we were just out of rhythm, up and down from there. I don’t know what happened.”
Before the unusually late first game between division rivals, Magic coach Steve Clifford and Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce both expressed uncertainties about the matchups. “I think we’ll have to adjust on the fly,” Pierce said.
The Hawks struggled to find an answer for Vucevic. The 7-foot center made only one 3-pointer but found most of his points near the basket.