Saturday night Josh Smith’s 21 points and 9 rebounds led the Atlanta Hawks past the Orlando Magic, 97-88.
Ivan Johnson scored 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds off the bench for the Hawks.
“It was a lot of fun. Sometimes because of injury you have to step up,” Johnson said post game.
All-Star forward Al Horford missed his second straight game due to illness but Johnson filled the gap in his absence.
“I felt a little better today but need a few more days of rest,” Atlanta’s Horford said.
The one bright spot in a down year for the Magic has been the play of center Nikola Vucevic.
The second year player brought over from Philadelphia in the Dwight deal last summer, is averaging 12 points and 11 rebounds this season.
Vucevic who missed the previous five games because of a concussion, finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds in the loss.
The Magic kept themselves in the game with defense. In the second and third quarters Orlando was only able to scrounge up 17 and 16 points.
“I felt like we played good defense, we just weren’t able to put the ball in the basket,” Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said.
At this point of the year Orlando is playing for pride and a stretch of games they can hang their hats on going into the offseason.
The Magic will play at the Houston Rockets Monday night, tip off set for 8pm.
