The early season contest between the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic will have a different perspective with a visit to Mexico City on Thursday night.
According to the NBA, it marks the first time the Hawks will play in Mexico. The Magic played games against the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz in Mexico in December 2018.
Orlando won both games on that visit and will look to bounce back from a 117-102 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
The Magic led by as many as 15 points before wilting. Orlando was outscored 64-36 in the second half.
The Magic made 7 of 11 3-point attempts (63.6 percent) in the first half but were a frigid 1 of 16 (6.2 percent) in the second half.
“We did a lot of good things in the first half, obviously,” Orlando guard Cole Anthony said. “Hitting shots always helps, but we can’t let the missed shots affect what our defense does.”
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley also was disappointed with 21 turnovers, which led to 21 Dallas points.
“We didn’t come out with the same amount of pop in that third quarter, second half,” Mosley said. “They were able to put their foot on the gas, and we allowed shot-making or missing to impact our defense, which we know that’s not who we are. Whether we are making or missing shots, our defense has to sit down and guard.”
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 22 points while Anthony and Moritz Wagner each scored 19 off the bench.
The Magic were shorthanded with big man Wendell Carter Jr. (fractured left hand), guards Markelle Fultz (left knee tendinitis) and Gary Harris (right groin strain) and forward Jonathan Isaac (left hamstring soreness) all sitting out.
Atlanta reeled off four consecutive wins before falling 126-117 to the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
The Hawks never led and trailed by as many as 19 points in the setback.
Atlanta coach Quin Snyder’s club scored 40 fourth-quarter points to reduce the margin of defeat.
“It’s not trying to focus on the positive. I guess it is to a degree,” Snyder said. “The fact that we continued to take our shots, we continued to offensive rebound. … We were down 19 and just scratched and clawed and made it a game late.”
Dejounte Murray scored 29 points and Trae Young added 22 points and 11 assists for the Hawks, who shot just 37.3 percent from the field.
Three Atlanta reserves played well. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 17 points and Saddiq Bey had 15 — both players made three 3-pointers — and Onyeka Okongwu collected 14 rebounds.
Starting forward De’Andre Hunter was just 2-of-13 shooting while scoring eight points. He has made just 3 of 16 shots over the past two games.
Young was just 5 of 18 from the field while scoring at least 20 points for the fifth straight game. He is shooting just 33.6 percent on the season and has made less than 28 percent of his attempts on three occasions.
Young is struggling from 3-point range at 27.3 percent. He has made 12 of 44 shots.
Young made more than 200 treys in two of his first five full seasons. His low is 136 during the 2020-21 season.
Atlanta went 3-1 against Orlando last season and has won nine of the past 11 meetings.
–Field Level Media