Hawks hope to forget Magic embarrassment
May 06, 2010 17:22:00 UK
Atlanta Hawks will try to forget the 114-71 defeat they suffered to the Orlando Magic when the two meet in game two of the Eastern Conference semi-final tonight.
Orlando's 43-point victory in the opening match on Wednesday left the Hawks - and coach Mike Woodson - with little explanation, resorting to describing the loss with words like "panic" and "embarrassing."
Atlanta has to slow Dwight Howard and the Magic down in game two of the best-of-seven series tonight, or the Hawks could be headed toward another quick second-round stint.
"We get down and it's like we kind of bury our heads and continue to go the other way," Woodson said.
"I still want to say it's a team still learning how to win. It's not easy winning on the road, and surely it can't be that lopsided."
It was. The Magic led by as many as 46 points in the fourth, even with Howard and the rest of their starters on the bench. It was the largest margin of defeat in the playoffs since the franchise moved to Atlanta in 1968, and the second-largest playoff victory in the Magic's history.
"When they went on a little run, we tend to panic a little bit and we started forcing things offensively," Atlanta's Joe Johnson said.
"They were fast-breaking and getting wide-open shots. It kind of got us discombobulated a little bit.
"You just really have to throw this game out the window."
The Magic, oddly, are trying to take the same approach. Coach Stan Van Gundy gave his team a history lesson at Wednesday's practice, rolling off statistics about teams that lost after a blowout play-off win.
The only Magic win by a larger margin was by 47 points in the first round against Boston in 1995, and they lost the next game, but won the series 3-1.
"I think the point is just this: every game in the playoffs is a new day, and you can't get caught up in what's happened before," Van Gundy said.
"It wasn't necessarily specific games. It was numbers and percentages. They got the point."
On the Money Line for tonight's game, the Hawks can be backed at 6.00, with the Magic available at 1.14.
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