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Hawks Snap Magic’s Six-Game Win Streak with Final Second Free Throws

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Two made free throws from Dejounte Murray with 1.1 second left in the game sealed the deal for the Hawks after a costly shooting foul from the Magic’s Paolo Banchero.

In their final meeting of the season on Dec. 19, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Orlando Magic 126-125 snapping their six-game win streak.

The Hawks were in control of the game throughout the second half until Markelle Fultz made a two-point shot with 3.1 seconds left in the game that gave the Magic their first lead of the second half and a slight glimpse of a win. Ultimately, the late foul from Banchero cost them the game.

Trae Young led the way for the Hawks with 37 points and 13 assists, including a 34-foot three pointer. He also went 12 for 12 on free throws.

Onyeka Okongwu led the team in rebounds with eight. Six of those were defensive rebounds.

After the game, Young said that they need to work on closing out games.

“We didn’t close out the way we needed to, but we won and that’s what matters. We have to do a better job of finishing the game,” said Young.

Photo by Cannon Crompton

With 3:03 left in the game, Young was given a technical foul.

In his post-game press conference, Young said he got the technical foul because he was staring at Magic center, Moritz Wagner. Young also said that he thinks the referee was unaware of what Wagner was saying to him the whole game and Wagner’s “dirty play and the way he was playing.”

Hawks Head Coach, Nate McMillan, said in his post-game press conference that they got lucky with their win.

“We have to finish games. I thought we started to relax late in that fourth quarter. One play can change the momentum of a game and we just have to show growth in playing a 48-minute game. When you have a lead or you’re behind, understanding how to finish that game and tonight I thought we got lucky, we really got lucky. We had some turnovers, a technical foul, we didn’t get stops and we really just got lucky tonight,” said McMillan

McMillian was happy with  their composure during the game.

“I thought we did some good things. We scored 126 points and we had 62 points in the paint. We did a good job, for the most part, of taking care of the basketball. They were able to score, and score fairly easily late in that game, so establishing a defensive presence and being able to sustain that throughout the game. We’ll take the win, but we know we have to be better and we have to finish better in order to continue to win ball games,” said McMillan during his post-game press conference.

Photo by Cannon Crompton

McMillan talked about playing off the energy of the crowd during the game.

“We always play off the energy of our crowd. As I’ve always said, we have to give our crowd something to cheer about. Our play, we did a good job in that second quarter when we were getting stops and you could feel the energy in the building,” said McMillan.

This was the first game back for John Collins and Murray, who both started against the Magic after missed games due to injury. McMillan said after the game that Collins was limited on minutes he played in the game.

Collins played a little over 20 minutes and had 12 points, two assists and four rebounds in his first game since Nov. 30, which was also against the Magic.

Murray had 17 points, three assists and five rebounds. He last played on Dec. 7 against the New York Knicks.

Photo by Cannon Crompton

In his post-game press conference, Murray said he could tell a difference in his conditioning after missing games.

“Legs are tired, which I expected, but just tried to play hard and do the right thing on both ends of the floor. You know, I get back to it,” said Murray.

With the win, the Hawks improve to 16-15 on the season.

Monday night’s game was their second straight sold-out home game in a row and their third sellout out of four home games so far this month.

The Hawks next game is at home against the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

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Hawks Snap Magic’s Six-Game Win Streak with Final Second Free Throws