The Atlanta Hawks ended the season on a three-game winning streak, reaching the 40-win mark for the 2024-25 campaign and universally exceeding preseason expectations. It did not take long, however, for at least some of that positive shine to dissipate, with the Hawks falling apart in a 120-95 loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
While the matchup in Orlando did provide playoff-level stakes, it was not a win-or-go-home elimination game, which is fortunate for Atlanta. The consequence for losing in rather desolatory fashion is a matchup with either the Miami Heat or Chicago Bulls on Friday, pending the winner of the Miami-Chicago battle on Wednesday night. As such, the loss does have a real impact in that it places Atlanta's season on the precipice but, even if it didn't, it would be fair to note just how ugly things were for the Hawks.
Atlanta did enter the Play-In matchup as notable underdogs of either 5 or 5.5 points in the betting market, which was fitting given that Orlando was playing at home and in the same building in which the Hawks lost exactly one week earlier. In that regular season matchup, the Magic seized firm control of the Southeast Division race and, while the end result was a seven-point margin, Atlanta trailed by 14 points with only a few minutes remaining.
Familiar problems showed up for the Hawks against the Magic
This time, the final 25-point margin may not have been indicative of the entire game flow, but Atlanta had two separate collapses. In the first half, the Hawks went through a dry spell on offense, missing 13 of 14 shots (and a pair of free throws) during an 18-2 run by the Magic. That allowed Orlando to lead by as many as 22 points at halftime and, while 22-point margins aren't what they used to be, the Hawks had a lot of digging to do.
To their credit, Atlanta almost erased that margin. First, they chipped away to make it a 14-point game at the half, and then a 12-point third quarter from Trae Young brought the Hawks back within as few as three points. Even with a six-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter, Atlanta was in reasonable shape, but Orlando then brought the hammer in the fourth quarter.
Over an eight-minute period, the Hawks were outscored by 21 points, and it was quite gross on both sides of the floor for the Hawks. By the end of the night, Trae Young was ejected after a pair of technical fouls in quick succession, and Atlanta's deficit was so large that the Hawks pulled their starters in preparation for the second Play-In game before the first one was over.
While Young's ejection will undoubtedly draw the national headlines, the loss was sealed well before that, and it came with issues on both sides of the floor for the Hawks. On defense, Orlando made Atlanta pay on the glass with 25 second-chance points. It was not as much the volume of offensive rebounds (12) for the Magic, but rather than efficiency by which the Magic bludgeoned the Hawks when they secured them, scoring more than two points for every extra chance. From there, Atlanta actually did a fantastic job holding Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to only 30 total points, but the bench duo of Cole Anthony and Anthony Black went off for the Magic to neutralize any gains.
On the other end, the Hawks simply could not find the bottom of the basket. Atlanta scored less than a point per possession in the game and, with due credit to a top-flight Orlando defense, the Hawks shot themselves in the foot with poor shotmaking throughout the night. Atlanta posted its second-worst effective field goal percentage (40.5 percent) of the entire season, making fewer than 45 percent of two-point attempts and a dismal 4-21 from 3-point distance. In fact, the Hawks posted season lows for 3-pointers (4) and 3-point attempts (21) with their third-worst mark in 3-point percentage (19.0 percent).
That staggering level of inefficiency would be difficult to overcome against any opponent but, against Orlando in particular, it was crippling. The Magic finished the season as one of the three worst shooting teams in the NBA, instead subsisting on strong defense and the ability to win on the margins. As such, a break-even situation in the shooting battle would be tough for the Hawks and, instead, they lost the shooting battle by a substantial margin.
Some of the shortcomings of this matchup can reasonably be attributed to "one bad night" in the shooting department, and it isn't difficult to frame this give as a throwaway as such. However, the Hawks were overwhelmed at times by Orlando's size and physicality and, for a team with clear personnel deficiencies in the frontcourt, that dichotomy was hard to ignore.
The Hawks do have a couple of days to regroup before a home game in which they will be favored to win. In the meantime, Atlanta must wrestle with the reality that it was unable to beat Orlando at Kia Center in not one, but two games that could've swung their season in an even more positive direction.