ORLANDO, FL – The Orlando Magic lost to the Atlanta Hawks 11-99 on Wednesday night after a 5 game western road trip. But no excuse here. They just need to work harder.
Atlanta, playing without key slayer Bogdan Bogdanovic, while Orlando had the center Mohammad Bamba still nursing a sprained ankle got the gamete news that veteran guard Gary Harris had hamstring tightness an could not go.
RJ Hampton and Chuma Okeke stepped into the starting lineup and Wendell Carter Jr. had the task of battling against Center Clint Capella.
Atlanta star guard Tre Young, normally a prolific three-point shooter, was limited to a 1 for 8 shooting night from deep, but the talented guard still managed to cause havoc in the inside, taking advantage of the space in the paint in Orlando, for the game leading 28 points.
Orlando’s Cole Anthony and Franz Wagner were key focuses of the Atlanta defense. Anthony was held to 7 points on the night, while Wagner managed to score 10 with 6 rebounds.
Carter was held to 9 points by Atlanta, but grabbed 15 rebounds for the Magic.
When asked by the media about the effects of the long western trip, no one wanted to hear about it.
“Man, I don’t want to hear about that” said Moritz Wagner, who put in 18 minutes, 19 points and six rebounds.
“This is the NBA and every team has to deal with that. I don’t wanna hear about that a.”
The Magic called on Terrance Ross to help out on the offensive side, and he delivered with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Atlantas second unit, with Danilo Gallinari, Lou Williams, Cam Reddish among others, overwhelmed the Magic.
Williams seemed to score at will, with 14 points, Reddish with 13 points, and Gallinari scoring 10.
John Collins scored 21 points and had 1 rebounds for the Hawks, sometimes being matched up with Cole Anthony for easy buckets down low.
Orlando had control of turnovers in the first half, with only two turnovers in both the first and second quarters, but as the game moved on, and tings became overwhelming, the turnovers build up to 17 total for the game, leading to 14 hawks points.
The Magic still managed to keep up the fight to the end of the game, which is one of their biggest strengths, resiliency.
Orlando gets a day to rest up, but then have to face the Miami Heat at the Amway Center on Friday.
