The Atlanta Hawks played the Orlando Magic for the third meeting of the season. Through the first two meetings, the two teams shared eerily even stats. Both scored 220 total points, the Magic made 78 field goals to the Hawks’ 77, and both teams amassed 26 turnovers. It’s a dead-even matchup by the numbers. This game would be the tie breaker of the season series.
Onyeka Okongwu scored a three-pointer to start the game, and Trae Young followed it with another for a 6-0 start. Okongwu would knock down another triple, scoring eight in the quarter. Caris LeVert led the team with 9 points as the Hawks took a 31-30 lead entering the second quarter. Paolo Banchero had answers every step of the way in the first half, scoring inside with ease.
Trae Young dominated with his in-between game in the first half, sinking multiple floaters.
Trae’s 4th or 5th floater of the first half we lost count pic.twitter.com/beoP85GWI5
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) April 9, 2025
The Hawks entered halftime trailing 66-57. Banchero led all scorers with 21 points, and Young scored 16 for Atlanta. The Magic forced 12 turnovers in the half, something the Hawks would surely need to clean up in the second half. The Magic began to take charge in the third before Young nailed a big three. The Hawks stayed in it but still trailed 84-92 before the fourth quarter began. Okongwu was having a great game, doing his job of both scoring and rebounding against a tough defensive team.
The Hawks continued to hang around, though they had not taken the lead again to this point. Midway through the fourth quarter, they trailed six points. The Magic started pulling away as the offense ran dry for Atlanta. They had stifled the Hawks’ offense and put the game away. With 1:43 remaining, the Magic maintained a 12 point lead with Banchero at the charity stripe.
The Magic went on to win 119-112.