Atlanta Hawks vs. Orlando Magic (8:00 pm ET, ESPN)
Atlanta Hawks have to sweat it out to level the series against the favorites, Orlando Magic in Game 2 (8:00pm ET, ESPN) at the Amway Arena, Orlando, FL. The Hawks have a home record of 53-29, 19-22 away record and the Magic have 59-23 away, 34-7 home record.
Hawks will have a tough time on Thursday after being defeated by Magic by 43 points in the Eastern Conference semifinal opener. The loss must have been really disheartening.
“We get down and it’s like we kind of bury our heads and continue to go the other way,” Woodson, Atlanta Hawks coach, 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 a usual game for Dwight Howard and the Magic as they thrashed the Atlanta. Howard had 21 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks in only 28 minutes of work. In the fourth, the Magic led by 46 points even though Howard and the rest of the starters were on the bench. Magic won the opening game by the largest margin of defeat in the playoffs since the franchise moved to Atlanta in 1968, and the second-largest playoff victory in the their history.
“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.”
Oddsmakers from various betting websites have made the Magic -9 point spread favorites for Thursday’s game against the Hawks. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 73% of more than 2,535 bets for this game have been placed on the Magic -9.
