Hawks down Magic but take some casualties

In the fourth quarter, Hawks forward/center Larry Nance rolled to the basket off a high screen and caught a pass from Trae Young in the air. Nance hit the knee of Magic forward Franz Wagner, who tried to stop his look at the basket. Officials whistled Wagner for the foul but Nance immediately called for a sub and needed assistance to the locker room.

On the very next possession, Vit Krejci made a transition dunk, but while he was in the air, Magic center Jonathan Isaacs contested the shot. Krejci, who was fouled, went crashing to the ground and slammed his lower back on the hardwood. Officials upgraded the foul to a Flagrant-1 and though Krejci made the free throw to tie the game at 94, he exited the game.

But the Hawks rallied.

“That is what you have to do against the Magic,” Young said. “We matched their physicality and maybe played more physical and got a good win against a good team on the road.”

2. Young started out the night 1-of-7 from the floor as the Magic sent bigger defenders and doubles to affect his shots. But Young got some solid screens from his teammates in the second half that allowed him to lean into his floater.

He opened the second half with back-to-back floaters straight down the lane, opened up by the screens center Onyeka Okongwu set for him. Young got a rolling screen from guard Caris LeVert that gave him just enough space to hit a logo 3 that extended the Hawks’ lead to 104-99.

In just the second time in eight games, Young scored fewer than 20 points. But his teammates’ reminders to stay aggressive got him going in the second half.

“They knew the looks I was getting I usually make,” Young said.

3. In his second game in a Hawks uniform, LeVert came out hot, cutting to the basket on a roll from Mouhamed Gueye when he noticed the look was cut off. LeVert then hit a 3 from the corner that allowed the Hawks to briefly hold off the Magic.

LeVert also did many little things on the floor that helped the Hawks to get organized on the defensive end, which allowed them to get some stops then get out and run.

“It’s been fun,” LeVert said. “Obviously it’s just my second game here, but I don’t know if I played 30 minutes all season. So it’s just fun to get out there and be tired and get sweaty and things like that.”

LeVert scored 18 points, grabbed a season-high eight rebounds and dished two assists.

4. The bench was unusually connected despite playing limited minutes together. The Hawks leaned on the years of professional experience of the veteran players added to the roster at the trade deadline. The bench, which had been a strength of the Hawks early in the season, became one again.

Their first stint in the rotation helped the Hawks build up an eight-point lead by moving the ball and playing connected basketball.

“The guys coming into the game are willing and ready for that,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “And that connectivity has a way of raising everybody’s level. You saw it late. We were finishing with a compilation of guys at various times, and obviously that was impacted, in some degree, by what happened to Vit (Krejci) and what happened to Larry (Nance Jr.). But that aside, that group pulled together.”.

The Hawks’ second unit won the battle between the Magic, outscoring them 54-25, with LeVert, Terance Mann and Georges Niang combining for 38 points.

5. The Magic duo of Wagner and Paolo Banchero gave the Hawks trouble at different points of the matchup. Wagner scored 20 of his 37 points in the first half, while Banchero dropped 20 of his 31 points in the third quarter alone.

Stat to know

18 - Dyson Daniels has 18 games with four or more steals this season. That is the most a player has had in the NBA since Chris Paul in the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons.

Quotable

“It is tough. ... Anytime you see your teammate go down it is tough.” Young on his reaction to Nance’s injury.

Up next

The Hawks play their final game before the All-Star break on Wednesday in New York against the Knicks.