Orlando’s Cole Anthony and Atlanta’s Trae Young went toe-to-toe in a game of who could outdo the other but it was Young who came out on top as the Hawks ran away with a 129-111 win at State Farm Arena Monday night.
Anthony had his third double-double of the season after scoring 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting with 11 assists. It was the eighth time that the 21-year-old has scored 20 or more points in a game this season.
Young had 23 points to lead Atlanta (6-9), which had six players score in double digits, including John Collins (23 points), Clint Capela (20) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (20).
“As the game went on, we got into a trade-basket mode. We needed to bear down a little bit more and just sit down and guard,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said.
“We got into an exchange just thinking that with them being on a back-to-back, we could just pace it a little faster. We just needed to sit down on the defensive end and really lock in and guard.”
Atlanta native Wendell Carter Jr. scored 10 points for the Magic in the first 6 minutes, shooting 4-for-4, including 2-for-2 from 3. He finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Franz Wagner added 19 points and 5 rebounds while Terrence Ross had 19.
The Magic (3-11) jumped out to a 26-20 lead with the help of some hot shooting (50%), including 5 of 9 on 3-pointers. But Atlanta started to heat up in the second quarter with Young scoring 7 of his 12 first-half points in a two-minute stretch as the Hawks went on a 9-2 run at the end of the quarter to take a 60-56 lead into intermission.
Atlanta started to pull away in the 3rd quarter after a 12-2 run pushed the lead to 14 at 76-62 with 7:27 left. But Orlando went on a 9-2 run that sliced the advantage to 78-71, but Young helped push the lead to 93-84 at the end of the quarter.
The Magic never got any closer than 7 as the Hawks built their advantage to as many as 16 points.
“I don’t think we were physical enough,” said Anthony. “We led Clint Capela and John Collins punk us. They just outworked us on the boards and that’s on me. I have to get in there and rebound more. Three rebounds is unacceptable.”
The Magic shot 45% (43 of 95) from the field, including 37% (16 of 43) from 3, but were outrebounded 46-41 and finished with 16 turnovers.
Monday’s game was the first of a five-game, seven-day trip for Orlando, which has enjoyed more success away from Amway Center with two of its three wins coming on the road.
“We just continue to focus on the process of what we’re doing on the road,” Mosley said before the game. “There’s a little bit of a different routine. You check-in at the hotel; you get your meals and you get a little bit more rest. These guys have banded together. The road allows you to settle into a different type of routine.”
Orlando was averaging 104 points in its six road contests while shooting 43% from the field, including 36% from the 3-point line. Conversely, the Magic were averaging 94.9 points in their seven home games while shooting 40.2%, including 30% from 3. Even more concerning, the team had been averaging 6.1 rebounds per game at home vs. 7.9 rebounds on the road.
Three of the five games on the trip are against teams with losing records (Atlanta, Milwaukee) with a back-to-back set of games vs. the Bucks. The other two games are against the New York Knicks — who Orlando defeated on Oct. 24 — and the Brooklyn Nets, who handed the Magic a 33-point loss on Nov. 10.
Orlando was without rookie guard Jalen Suggs, who sat out the game with a high-ankle sprain he suffered in the loss to the Wizards Saturday. Veteran Gary Harris took his spot in the starting lineup vs. the Hawks.
“We’re going to sit him out tonight,” Mosley said before the game. “[We’re] just being cautious. He went through shoot-around and we’re just going to treat it day-to-day.”
Suggs was averaging 13.7 points per game on the road, up from the 9.3 points he averaged at home.
