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Magic rout Hawks, keep rolling at home

Nov 26, 2006 - 2:37 AM ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- Hedo Turkoglu and the Orlando Magic wasted no time notching their sixth straight home win.

Turkoglu triggered a quick start and the Magic opened a 28-point first-half lead before settling for a 98-79 victory over the sloppy and slumping Atlanta Hawks.

Carlos Arroyo scored 15 points for the Magic, who never trailed, shot 45.5 percent (35-of-77) from the field and received 36 points from their bench as they improved to 7-1 at TD Waterhouse Centre. Orlando has won seven of eight overall.

Turkoglu scored nine of his 14 points in the first quarter, including three hoops in a game-opening 14-3 run as Atlanta missed its first nine shots.

"I was just glad to see (Turkoglu) have a good night shooting the ball, and he just looked more comfortable tonight than he looked, a little uneasy, the last couple of games," Orlando coach Brian Hill said.

Jameer Nelson scored eight points as Orlando opened a 31-18 advantage after one period.

"I think our defense sparked our offense," said swingman Keith Bogans, who started for Grant Hill. "We got up, got in the passing lane and got steals. We contested every shot, pass and cut. When you do that, it turns on the offense."

In the second quarter, the Hawks went nearly 10 minutes without a basket, missing 14 straight shots while committing five turnovers. The Magic's bench scored 19 points in a 24-3 surge that opened a 55-27 lead late in the first half.

Led by 10 points each from Arroyo and Keyon Dooling, the reserves scored 27 points in the first half, when Orlando limited Atlanta to 26 percent (10-of-38) shooting and forced 12 turnovers.

"Every time there's a lead, we tend to relax coming off the bench," Arroyo said. "But it was different tonight. We pushed harder to get room between them and us. Energy - that's what coach wants us to bring and that's what we're going to do.

"We did a good job coming off the bench, but I think the starters did a good job starting it off," Dooling said.

Two free throws by Bogans opened the third quarter and gave Orlando a 59-29 lead. Atlanta got no closer than 16 points thereafter.

"Tonight we just weren't ready," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "We just couldn't match up with them."

Dooling and Bogans scored 13 points each and Nelson and Dwight Howard added 11 apiece for the Magic (10-4), who became the first Eastern Conference team to win 10 games. They are the only team above .500 in the Southeast Division.

"Our depth is there and our chemistry is there," Arroyo said. "But teams are starting to respect us more and more and we're going to accept that challenge."

The Magic embark on a 10-day, seven-game road trip that begins Monday against league-leading Utah.

"We're the first team to 10 wins in the East, sitting in first place, but we have a big road trip in front of us and the challenge will be to see how well we can play on this trip," Hill said.

"You're never eager to go on the road but nevertheless you've got to go," Dooling said.

Joe Johnson and rookie Shelden Williams scored 16 points apiece for the Hawks (5-6), who finished at 36 percent (26-of-73) with 20 turnovers as they lost for the fifth time in six games.

Atlanta has lost five straight visits here and 13 of the last 14.

"We haven't taken a good butt-whooping in a while, so it was time to have one of those games," Woodson said.