Hapshoops32's Dynasty Blog
The Magic celebrate their series-clinching victory in front of the home crowd
Orlando, FL (AP) - It's starting to become a habit. Ho-hum, just another appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Magic stepped on the gas in the second half to beat Atlanta 102-92 and advance to the East Finals for the fourth consecutive year. Orlando struggled early, falling behind by as much as 10 points in the first quarter. However, the Magic picked it up in the second frame, shooting 54% to get within five points by halftime. Then, Orlando started off the third quarter with a 17-6 run to take the lead. Still, Atlanta would not go away. The Hawks were hanging around for much of the fourth quarter, until the Magic went on a 16-6 run, including 13 straight points by forward Brian Happel, to put this one out of reach. After the game, Happel celebrated, but warned they've still got more goals to reach, "Yeah, this definitely was a tough series. I'm ready to move on, but this is only one step. We've got a long way to go to get that ring, so we can't ease up now."
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Happel starts the game on fire, hitting back-to-back 3's
Happel was on fire the entire game. He scored 39 points on 17-23 shooting from the field, including 2 three-pointers. He also grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. Happel had two big spurts, scoring 14 of Orlando's 18 points in the first quarter (including 10 straight to start the game), and again scoring 13 points in a row in the fourth quarter. Dwight Howard was a force on the boards, collecting 10 rebounds. And, Gilbert Arenas played one of his best games with the Magic, scoring 22 points on 10-20 shooting and dishing out 9 assists. John Salmons also appears to be turning things around, hitting on 3 of 7 shots behind the arc.
Happel would not be denied early, taking it strong to the hole all night long
Atlanta had five players score in double-figures, led by Joe Johnson's 26 points. Al Horford turned in a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards. But, the Hawks just didn't have enough fire power to match Orlando in the second half. The Magic outscored Atlanta 58-43 after halftime.
Orlando got off to a good start, thanks to 2 early three-pointers from Happel
Shooting was definitely the main story in this one. Orlando shot 49% from the field, while holding the Hawks to just 43%. The biggest difference was behind the three-point line, where the Magic hit on 37%, but Atlanta could only connect on 3-16 shots. The difference in the second half was also dramatic, as Orlando shot better than 50% from the field, and the Hawks only shot 40%.
Defense wins championships, and this kind of team defense helped get Orlando closer to winning one
Orlando now awaits the winner of the Miami/Chicago series. The Magic swept Chicago out of the playoffs last year, but lost to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals 4-2. Atlanta finishes up a good season, advancing past the first round for the first time in quite a while. The Hawks starting five is locked up for at least the next couple of years, so they'll be looking to strengthen their bench for next season.
| May 8, 2012 - ATL at ORL | |||||
| TEAM | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Atlanta Hawks (5-5) | 20 | 29 | 22 | 21 | 92 |
| Orlando Magic (8-1) | 18 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 102 |
| Atlanta Hawks | ||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| P. Ryan | 29 | 5-16 | 0-1 | 3-3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Ja. Crawford | 38 | 5-16 | 1-8 | 0-0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| J. Johnson | 39 | 11-23 | 1-5 | 3-4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 |
| J. Smith | 40 | 6-12 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 15 |
| A. Horford | 40 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| M. Williams | 13 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Teague | 12 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| M. Bibby | 8 | 1-5 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| J. Powell | 7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. Pachulia | 7 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jo. Crawford | 7 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| B. Dailey | 6 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| TEAM TOTALS | 40-93 | 3-16 | 9-11 | 43 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 92 | |
| Orlando Magic | ||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| Gilbert Arenas | 37 | 10-20 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 22 |
| John Salmons | 33 | 4-11 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Brian Happel | 46 | 17-23 | 2-4 | 3-3 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 39 |
| Brandon Bass | 41 | 4-10 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Dwight Howard | 38 | 4-11 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| Jameer Nelson | 16 | 0-6 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcin Gortat | 11 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mack Bledsoe | 8 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| DeJuan Blair | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ryan Anderson | 4 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quentin Richardson | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Duhon | 4 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| TEAM TOTALS | 44-89 | 9-24 | 5-5 | 46 | 27 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 102 | |
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