Hawks still can’t solve Magic’s spell

By Bud L. Ellis

The euphoria of sweeping the Boston Celtics lasted just one day for the Atlanta Hawks, who ran into their own familiar brick wall Saturday night.

Dwight Howard continued tormenting his hometown team, scoring 31 points and pulling down 19 rebounds as the Hawks fell to the Orlando Magic, 104-86.

With the loss, the Hawks saw Orlando move ½ game ahead of Atlanta in the Southeast Division standings, and f\ell percentage points behind Boston for third in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks haven’t beaten the Magic since last season’s opening game, losing six in a row to the defending Eastern champions.

Atlanta ran out to a 10-point lead early, but the Magic reeled in the Hawks from there. Atlanta shot just 39.5 percent while the Magic hit on 54.2 percent of their attempts. Howard hit 10-of-16 from the field and shot 18 free throws – the Hawks as a team shot 20 from the line – as three Hawks’ defenders (Jason Collins, Zaza Pachulia and Al Horford) combined to commit 13 fouls.

Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford each scored 19 points to lead Atlanta. Josh Smith added 16 and Mike Bibby scored 10.

Atlanta returns to action Tuesday at Oklahoma City.

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Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 11:32 am by bud

Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Dwight Howard, Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Mike Bibby, National Basketball Association, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic