NBA GAME RECAP

Magic 117, Hawks 110

The Sports Xchange

February 08, 2016 at 11:04 pm.

ATLANTA — Beaten on a shot at the buzzer by center Nikola Vucevic in Orlando on Sunday, the Hawks suffered an even more disheartening loss to the Magic in the rematch at Atlanta on Monday night.

Orlando, down by 20 points in the first quarter, forced overtime with a 13-point fourth-quarter comeback and defeated Atlanta 117-110 behind 28 points and 12 rebounds from Vucevic.

All except three of Vucevic’s points came after halftime and he made 11 of 16 shots while tying his second high for points. He also had six assists.

The Magic never trailed in overtime and forward Evan Fournier put the victory away on a 3-pointer with 31.8 seconds left after the Hawks drew to within two points.

Guard Elfrid Payton had 20 points and seven assists for Orlando, which placed six players in double figures.

Center Al Horford scored 27 points for Atlanta. Forward Paul Millsap had 22 points and 13 rebounds, while guard Jeff Teague added 21 points.

Down by 11 points after three quarters, the Magic used a 10-0 run to erase a 13-point deficit and went up 101-100 on a 3-pointer by rookie forward Mario Hezonja with 14.6 seconds remaining in regulation.

Millsap went 1-for-2 at the foul line with 11.2 seconds left to tie it and the Hawks got the ball back with 1.2 seconds to play after a Magic miss. Millsap’s potential deciding jumper on an inbounds play came after time had expired.

Down by 14 in the first quarter at Orlando, the Hawks were up 28-8 after eight minutes a day later.

The Hawks made 10 of their first 16 shots, including all three attempts from behind the 3-point arc, and had just four first-half turnovers after committing seven in the opening quarter at Orlando.

Atlanta led 30-18 at the end of the first quarter behind six assists by Millsap and 54-41 at intermission as Horford had 13 first-half points on 6-for-9 shooting. Teague went 3-for-4 on 3-point attempts and had 11 points at the break.

Backup center Jason Smith, who finished with 14 points, helped keep the Magic in the game with 10 first-half points on 5-for-7 shooting.

The Magic got within seven points in the third quarter behind 12 points in the period from Vucevic before Millsap hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Atlanta an 83-72 lead going into the fourth quarter.

NOTES: F Tobias Harris, the Magic’s third-leading scorer at 13.7 points per game, missed his second straight game because of a sprained left ankle. He was hurt colliding with C Nikola Vucevic on Friday. … Hawks backup C Tiago Splitter sat out his fifth game in a row and the team will get a second opinion on his ailing right hip. He missed seven games earlier this season with the injury and will be sidelined at least until after the All-Star break. … Hawks rookie C Edy Tavares was assigned for a seventh stint in the NBA Development League. He is expected to play two games for Austin.