Hawks 82 - 88 Magic
Final
  for this game

Hawks aim for 2-0 lead over Magic

Apr 19, 2011 - 2:36 PM (Sports Network) - The Atlanta Hawks hope to seize control of their Eastern Conference quarterfinals set against Orlando when the set resumes at Amway center tonight for Game 2.

Joe Johnson scored 25 points and the Hawks overcame Dwight Howard's magnificent 46-point night to beat the Magic, 103-93, in Game 1 on Saturday.

The Hawks, who were dismantled by Orlando in the conference semifinals last season and had lost their final six games to end the regular season, also received 23 points from Jamal Crawford.

Al Horford posted 16 points, Josh Smith 15 and Kirk Hinrich 13 for Atlanta, which posted just its third playoff road win in its last 22 such contests.

"We had no answer at all in terms of stopping them," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We really couldn't play anything they did. Their perimeter guys particularly hurt us. We didn't have any defensive answers."

Howard, who was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year for a record third consecutive season on Monday, tied an Orlando franchise playoff record for points in a game and also had 19 rebounds. Jameer Nelson added 27 points, including a franchise playoff record 20 points during the third quarter, but the Magic got little help elsewhere.

"I knew he would come out aggressive, I knew he would come out in attack mode," Hawks coach Larry Drew said of Howard. "He had a heck of a first half. We made a decision to stay head up on him in the second half."

J.J. Redick made his return for Orlando after missing the final 17 regular season games with a lower abdominal strain but was largely ineffective. The sharp-shooting Duke product had just four points in 18 minutes of playing time.

In last year's playoffs against Atlanta, the Magic recorded the largest victory margin in a four-game sweep in NBA playoff history, winning the series by a total of 101 points. The Hawks lost all four contests in the set by an average of over 25 points per contest and the closest they ever came in the series was a 98-84 setback in Game 4.

The two teams have met twice in the postseason previously, last year's shellacking by Orlando along with a 4-1 Magic win in the 1995-96 Eastern Conference semifinals. Overall, the Magic are now 8-2 versus the Hawks in the playoffs, and Saturday's setback marked the first time the Hawks have ever beaten Orlando in central Florida during the postseason.

The series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Friday.






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