The matchups in this series actually look pretty close, but the Magic have home court advantage and they thrashed the Hawks in the playoffs last year. It will be interesting to see if the Hawks step up or if the Magic kick their butts again. It doesn’t help that the Hawks didn’t play like they cared too much this April. Here is a look at the matchups in this series:
POINT GUARD: Kirk Hinrich didn’t give the Hawks the bump that they were hoping for when they acquired him from the Wizards at the trade deadline. Hinrich played in 24 games (22 starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 28.6 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He’s a much better player than he has shown so far with the Hawks, so maybe he will step up.
Jameer Nelson is a solid point guard. He played in 76 games (all starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 30.5 minutes, 13.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. Nelson is a shoot first point guard and he makes teams pay for doubling Dwight Howard down low.
EDGE: MAGIC
SHOOTING GUARD: Joe Johnson held elbow issues earlier this year and he frankly pissed off the fans after he blasted them last year after the Magic kicked their butts. Johnson played in 72 games (all starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 35.5 minutes, 18.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. He has the potential to carry the Hawks’ offense when he gets hot.
Jason Richardson came over to the Magic in a deal with the Suns earlier this year. He played in 55 games (all starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 34.9 minutes, 13.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Richardson runs hot and cold, but he could have a good series against the Hawks.
EDGE: SLIGHT FOR THE HAWKS
SMALL FORWARD: Josh Smith is one of the best all-around small forwards in the NBA as he plays very hard at both ends of the court. Smith played in 77 games (all starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 34.4 minutes, 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.6 blocked shots per game. He is going to give Hedo Turkoglu fits as he’s going to be in his face most of this series.
Hedo Turkoglu has played solid basketball for the Magic since coming over in the big deal with the Suns. Turkoglu played in 56 games (all starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 34.1 minutes, 11.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. Turkoglu is likely going to need help on defense against Josh Smith.
EDGE: HAWKS
POWER FORWARD: Al Horford is going to need to have a big series if the Hawks are going to have any chance against the Magic. Horford played in 77 games (all starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 35.1 minutes, 15.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Horford should be able to handle Brandon Bass but he’ll also have to help out on D with Dwight Howard.
Brandon Bass played solid basketball for the Magic this year. He played in 76 games (51 starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 26.1 minutes, 5.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Bass will need to give Howard help on the boards because the Hawks have good rebounding forwards.
EDGE: HAWKS
CENTER: Veteran Jason Collins is going to start at center in this series. Collins played in 49 games (28 starts) this year for the Hawks and he averaged 12.1 minutes, 2.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Hawks are just hoping that Collins can play some D and get some rebounds.
Dwight Howard is set to have a monster series for the Magic. Howard played in 78 games (all starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 37.6 minutes, 22.9 points, 14.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.4 blocked shots per game. The only thing that can stop Howard from dominating this series is either foul trouble or if he gets hurt.
EDGE: GIGANTIC FOR THE MAGIC
BENCH: SG/PG Jamal Crawford is one of the best sixth men in the entire NBA as he comes off the bench shooting. He played in 76 games (0 starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 30.2 minutes, 14.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. I look for him to have a good series. Forward Marvin Williams will likely get a lot of P.T. in this series too. He played in 65 games (52 starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 28.7 minutes, 10.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Center Zaza Pachulia will also get some P.T. in this series as the Hawks need him to throw his big body around. Pachulia played in 79 games (7 starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 15.7 minutes, 4.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. SG Damien Wilkins played in 52 games (0 starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 13.0 minutes, 3.5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. He won’t likely get much P.T. in this series as I think the Hawks are going to tighten up the rotation. PG Jeff Teague also won’t get much run in this series. Teague played in 70 games (7 starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 13.8 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. PF/C Josh Powell could give the Hawks some minutes inside in this series. He has played in 54 games (0 starts) for the Hawks this year and he averaged 12.1 minutes, 4.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.
Forward Ryan Anderson is the best player the Magic have to offer off the bench in this series. Anderson played in 64 games (14 starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 22.3 minutes, 10.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. He is likely to get a lot of P.T. in this series as he can really shoot from long range. Guard J.J. Redick has missed a lot of time as of late but he could be ready to contribute in this series. He played in 59 games (5 starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 25.6 minutes, 10.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. The X Factor for the Magic’s bench could very well be veteran guard Gilbert Arenas who has had some huge games in the playoffs. He played in 49 games (2 starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 21.8 minutes, 8.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. SG/SF Quentin Richardson has been banished to the bench lately but he could help the Magic some in this series. Q-Rich has played in 57 games (19 starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 16.8 minutes, 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Young power forward Earl Clark could get in on the action if needed in this series. Clark played in 33 games (0 starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 11.9 minutes, 4.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. PG Chris Duhon has been buried on the bench for the Magic this year. He played in 51 games (5 starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 15.2 minutes, 2.5 points, 1.0 rebound and 2.3 assists per game. PF Malik Allen could help out with some minutes off the bench in this series. Allen played in 19 games (0 starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 9.9 minutes, 1.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.
EDGE: EVEN
COACHING: Well, we’ll see if Mike Woodson was the problem or not. Larry Drew led the Hawks to a 44-38 (53.7%) record this year. He will need to motivate his troops to overcome a Magic squad that buried them in the playoffs last year.
Stan Van Gundy has a 334-179 (65.1%) record during the regular season and he is 45-31 (59.2%) during the post-season. He has been very successful when the games really count and I think he will have his team ready to rock starting on Saturday.
EDGE: MAGIC
PREDICTION: The Magic are in the heads of the Hawks after beating the hell out of them in the playoffs last year. I expect that the Hawks will at least show up for 1 home game this time around, so I like the Magic to win this series in five games.
