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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| HAWKS | 21 | 16 | 22 | 22 | 81 |
| MAGIC | 29 | 37 | 25 | 22 | 113 |
Recap:
ORLANDO (AP) -- J.J. Redick scored 17 points in place of an injured Vince Carter, and the Orlando Magic ended a four-game losing streak with a 113-81 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
Matt Barnes finished with 18 points, and reserve Jason Williams added 14 to help the Magic build a 38-point lead and stay atop the Southeast Division. Orlando is 1 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta (23-13) and has won the two regular-season meetings against its division rival.
Al Horford had 14 points and Josh Smith scored 11 for the Hawks, who committed 16 turnovers and never could rally after falling behind early. Especially not with Orlando shooting 64 percent from the floor in the opening half.
Atlanta couldn't have expected such a Magic turnaround.
Orlando (25-12) had lost four straight games - all to teams that had losing records - for the first time since February 2007. And Carter said before the game he had a ``mild separation'' in his left shoulder but could be back as soon as next week, saying it was mostly soreness and didn't require surgery.
At least now the Magic can head out on a tough four-game road trip with stops at the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver, Portland and Sacramento with some momentum.
A lot of it.
Filling in for the injured Carter, Redick highlighted a 26-6 run with some highlights worthy of his days as a star at Duke. He had a pair of hard-driving layups, a 3-pointer and a jumper rolling off a tight screen to help give the Magic a 44-24 lead late in the second quarter.
It would get worse for Atlanta. Much worse.
All the Magic's flashy plays that had been missing came in one, big bunch.
Dwight Howard swatted Joe Johnson's shot into the first row, then twice connected on an alley-oop from Jameer Nelson. Ryan Anderson had a pair of powerful drop-steps in the post for layups. Barnes had a three-point play and a shot-clock beating jumper; and one of backup center Marcin Gortat's four blocks hit a videographer sitting on the baseline.
The Hawks didn't help themselves.
They had 10 turnovers in the first half. They showed little poise - constantly arguing with officials - and had even fewer second-chance shots, a big reason why they trotted slowly to the locker room down a whopping 66-37.
Atlanta eventually went down by 38 points but was able to trim the deficit to 19 on a layup by Zaza Pachulia early in the fourth quarter with most of Orlando's starters on the bench. But the Magic followed with another crowd-pleasing play.
Redick went into the stands to save the ball, throwing it over his head without looking. Anderson got it and swished a 3-pointer to deliver another big blow to the Hawks.
NOTES: The Magic aren't the only team that had lost four straight. Atlanta lost four in a row from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4. ... Howard was shooting the second of two free throws with 6:59 left in the first quarter when a squeaky noise accidentally went off over the loud speakers. The noise lasted only a few seconds. Howard didn't stop his motion and made the free throw.
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POSTGAME VIDEO:
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Preview:
(STATS) -- The Orlando Magic are in the midst of their longest losing streak in three seasons. Now, the defending Eastern Conference champions are on the verge of losing their Southeast Division lead.
Orlando tries to avoid a rare five-game slide Saturday night at Amway Arena, where it goes for its fifth straight victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Coming off losses to Chicago, Indiana and Toronto, the two-time defending Southeast champion Magic (24-12) dropped their fourth in a row Friday, 104-97 to a struggling Washington team playing its first home game without the suspended Gilbert Arenas.
Orlando led by 10 early in the fourth quarter but made only six field goals in the final 10:38.
The Magic are shooting 39.6 percent from the field during their losing streak. Atlanta (23-12), meanwhile, is holding teams to 87.0 points and 41.3 percent shooting in its last two games.
"It gets worse. It's terrible,'' said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, whose team hasn't lost five in a row since Jan. 12-20, 2007 - the season before he arrived in Orlando. "We didn't have one guy on the floor that could make a shot.''
Vince Carter hasn't been able to. The veteran guard in his first year with the Magic is hitting 22.4 percent from the field over his last five games, but he could be sidelined Saturday and perhaps longer after spraining his left shoulder during a collision in the second quarter Friday.
Not only did the Magic possibly lose their leading scorer, their division lead over Atlanta was trimmed to one-half game as the Hawks defeated Boston 93-85 on Friday.
Jamal Crawford scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter to lead six Hawks in double figures. Crawford, who converted a four-point play and a 3-pointer with 52.5 seconds left to put Atlanta up by nine, is the league's second-highest scorer off the bench at 17.1 points per game.
"He does that all the time,'' Hawks forward Josh Smith said after scoring 15 points with 11 rebounds. "It's unbelievable. When he gets it going, he's hard to stop.''
While Orlando has struggled with its shot over the last week, Atlanta is making 53.3 percent from the field in back-to-back wins, including 21 of 38 from 3-point range.
The Hawks, though, hit 38.8 percent in a 93-76 loss to the visiting Magic on Nov. 26 - Orlando's fourth consecutive victory in this matchup.
Atlanta native Dwight Howard had 22 points, 17 boards and four blocks in that victory. He is averaging 18.9 points, 16.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks while posting nine consecutive double-doubles against the Hawks.
In the teams' last matchup in Orlando, Howard had 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in 28 minutes of a 121-87 victory on Jan. 9, 2009.
Atlanta will try to avoid losing three straight on road since a five-game slide from March 4-April 3.
Prior to the loss exactly one year ago, the Hawks had won three of four in Orlando.
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Live Baseline Blog:
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Game Notes:
Jan. 9 vs. Atlanta: Orlando is 41-36 all-time vs. Atlanta (27-12 at home, 14-24 on the road) during regular season action, including 1-0 this season… The Magic went 3-1 against the Hawks last season… Orlando is 4-1 vs. the Hawks during the playoffs (1996 East Semis)... The Magic have won nine of the last 15 regular season meetings with the Hawks... Orlando has won seven of the last 10 matchups at home, but lost six of the last 10 meetings on the road… Dwight Howard attended SW Atlanta Christian Academy… Anthony Johnson appeared in 181 career games with the Hawks during a combined five seasons (1998-2001, 2006-08)… Trainer Tom Smith worked with the Hawks for six seasons from 2000-05 as the assistant athletic trainer.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. HAWKS: 40 pts., Tracy McGrady (at Atlanta, 12-8-01)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 40 pts., Joe Johnson (at Atlanta, 3-19-06)
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