Magic miss chance to tie it late, end winning streak with loss to Hawks
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- One of coach Scott Skiles' biggest worries heading into the Magic's first meeting with division rival Atlanta was allowing Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver to get hot at the wrong time.
It proved to be a valid concern.
Korver scored 13 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minute, and Atlanta rallied to defeat Orlando 103-100 on Sunday night.
Korver had four 3s in the last period and six for the game. Mike Scott added 15 points off the bench, and Al Horford and Jeff Teague scored 14 apiece in Atlanta's third straight victory.
"I haven't quite found my rhythm yet so it was good to see the ball go in the basket," Korver said. "I'll keep trying to find my rhythm and find my shot, and you try to stay confident."
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer saw that confidence emerge in the fourth quarter.
"When he's making shots it creates space for us," Budenholzer said. "Obviously if Kyle gets a good look, you feel like it's going to go in."
Skiles said those good looks -- especially Korver's final one -- weren't supposed to be available.
"We weren't supposed to leave (him)," the coach said. "We just kind of got brain locked and left him. But overall our defense was terrible, if not laughable."
The Magic had the ball and a chance to tie with 7.3 seconds remaining, but the Hawks smothered an inbounds pass to Evan Fournier. The ball eventually found its way to Nik Vucevic, who failed to get off a shot before time expired.
Vucevic led Orlando with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Fournier added 17 points, and Elfrid Payton had 14 points, six assists and five steals.
The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Magic.
Orlando did a good job of matching Atlanta's pace in the first three quarters, responding to each Hawks run with one of its own.
The Magic found an offensive groove in the third quarter and used a 16-0 spurt to take a 68-63 lead.
The Hawks answered with eight straight points of their own, and the Magic took a one-point lead into the final period after a steal and layup by Fournier ended the third.
Fournier had 15 points in the quarter, connecting on four of his five field goal attempts.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Atlanta shot 50 percent (39 of 78) for the game. ... Ten of Horford's 14 first-half points came on dunks.
Magic: Orlando had 24 points off 20 Atlanta turnovers. ... Skiles was called for a technical foul by referee Eric Lewis with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter. ... Payton had four steals in the first 6 minutes. ... Orlando has made at least one 3-pointer in 683 consecutive games dating to March 17, 2007.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
One of Skiles' goals entering this season was to have the Magic ranked in the top five in opponents' field goal percentage. Entering Sunday, Orlando ranked fifth in the NBA, holding opponents to 42.8 percent from the field -- and 33.7 percent from the 3-point line (ninth in the league). The Magic ranked 28th and 29th, respectively, in those categories last season. "If that holds at the end of the season, that would be a great accomplishment for these guys, for sure," Skiles said. "We don't really see any reason why it can't hold. We want to move up. We don't want to just be fifth; we'd like to be first."
STAT WATCH
Paul Millsap entered as the only player in the NBA averaging at least 18 points, eight rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block per game. He posted his 12th double-double on the season against the Magic with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Atlanta hosts the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
Orlando plays at the New York Knicks on Monday.
