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Hawks, Magic meet in Southeast Division battle

Jan 7, 2009 - 11:39 AM Orlando (27-8) at Atlanta (22-11) 7:00 p.m. EST

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The Orlando Magic are humming along at the top of the Southeast Division, but the Atlanta Hawks have the chance to do some damage as well.

The Hawks host the Magic on Wednesday in a battle between the top two teams in the Southeast.

Atlanta, which has flown under the radar in the Eastern Conference, is 8-2 in its last 10 games and owns the fourth-best record in the conference. The Hawks have built their record on dominance at home, going 15-2 at Philips Arena.

But Atlanta has won a few games on the road as well, including a season-opening tilt at Orlando on October 29. Joe Johnson scored 25 points and Josh Smith added 17 and 10 rebounds in the win.

The Magic got 22 points and 15 rebounds from Dwight Howard in that one but shot just 37 percent (32-of-87) from the floor, including 4-of-25 from beyond the arc.

Orlando has improved considerably since, ranking second in the East in 3-point percentage (38.1).

The Magic are coming off an 89-80 win over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday in which Hedo Turkoglu led the way with 22 points. They have won 10 of their last 12 games.