Orlando Magic AT Atlanta Hawks
April 28, 2011 at 7:35 PM EST
Opening Line: ORL -2
Current Line: ORL -2
Opening Moneyline: ORL -135, ATL +115
Current Moneyline: ORL -135, ATL +115
Opening Total: 178.5
Current Total: 178
Hawks lead series 3-2
The Hawks have not let one loss allow them to forget the most crucial fact: they can still close the Magic out with a victory tonight, and that they are in control of this series.
“We are still in a great position,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said following the rout “We’ve put the ball back in our court, with the possibility to close it out at home. That’s what we plan to do.”
The Magic’s approach to last game was different than in the first four games. Rather than running the entire set through Dwight Howard, who averaged 32+ points per game over the first four, Van Gundy decided to run a lot of different pick and roll combos and Jason Richardson came back strong after the game suspension to score a team high 17 points. J.J. Redick also contributed 14. Oddly, though Howard played less than 30 minutes and failed to reach double digit points or rebounds, the Magic had a 23 point lead at the half.
Van Gundy knows the Magic are going to continue to need production from their role players. Just having Jameer Nelson and Howard dominating can’t be enough — not in the playoffs against a good team.
“I don’t think it can be one or two guys. Those first four games, it was basically just Dwight carrying us,” Van Gundy said. “We need more people involved. We need to have a lot of people play well.”
Van Gundy also doesn’t think the Magic can afford to think of it as anything other than desperation mode.
“My analogy today was that it’s like a game when you’re down 25 and then you make a run to get it back to 10.” In other words, Van Gundy is pleased with the effort but desires for the team to continue to play their absolute hardest, or find themselves watching the rest of the playoffs (or not perhaps) from their summer vacation destinations.
While Van Gundy was pleased with the Magic’s effort, Larry Drew did not find satisfaction in the play of any of his players. “I didn’t see the effort I saw in games 3 and 4,” Drew said. “There was a very glaring difference in our effort on both ends of the floor. We watched it some with the players, so they can see. The bottom line is, this is playoff basketball. This is the time where every possession counts. We played against a team that had their back against the wall, and we didn’t respond to their intensity. That was very glaring.”
After hitting only 20% of their threes in the first four games of the series, the Magic found a way to go 11 of 26 on Tuesday night, and a big part of the improvement was just hitting shots that they normally hit. Van Gundy said earlier in the series, as did Magic GM Otis Smith, that nothing was wrong fundamentally with the offense; guys just weren’t hitting shots. Moreover, the switch to so many screens and pick and rolls caught the Hawks off guard after four games of the Magic simply dumping the ball to Howard in the post and spreading around the arc.
Josh Smith even admitted that the Magic were “predictable” in the first four games, and that the pick and roll was hard for them to defend.
Marvin Williams of the Hawks doesn’t seem to think the Hawks can win the series with a loss tonight., commenting that it would be “tough to go back there and steal a win in game 7.”
Some betting trends:
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Orlando’s last 7 games and the Magic are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games. The Magic are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 on the road and the total has gone UNDER in 4 of Orlando’s last 6 games on the road. The Magic are 2-5 SU in their last 7 games on the road and the Magic are 1-8 ATS in their last 9 games in Atlanta. The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Orlando’s last 11 games against the Hawks and the Magic are 2-6 SU in their last 8 games against Atlanta. The Magic are 1-4 SU in their last 5 road games against the Hawks and the Magic are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 road games against Atlanta, as well. The total has gone UNDER in all 5 of the Magic’s last 5 road games in Atlanta.
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Atlanta’s last 8 games and the Hawks are 3-8 SU in their last 11 games. The Hawks are 5-2 SU in their last 7 home games and the total has gone UNDER in all 5 of the Hawks’ last 5 games at home. The total has also gone UNDER in 10 of The Hawks’ last 11 games against the Magic. Atlanta is 6-2 SU in their last 8 games against the Magic and the total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta’s last 5 games at home against Orlando. Atlanta is 4-1 SU in their last 5 games at home against the Magic.
Tonight’s game is obviously crucial for both teams. The Hawks can advance to round two, and the Magic can force a home deciding game 7, and home teams win game 7s the majority of the time. If the Magic can win with Howard scoring 8 points, it is a scary proposition for a Hawks team that is not able to score with the ease that the Magic can.
