Hawks dominate Magic, sweep season series for first time since 2012-13

Key moment

The Hawks and Magic have a lot of bad blood between them. The Magic didn’t seem to shy away from trying to spill more. In the fourth quarter, Hawks center Jock Landale went up for a putback, but Magic center Goga Bitadze dragged him by the arm, pulling him down.

Landale went to the ground, holding his ankle, but his teammates had his back. Jonathan Kuminga ran up on Bitadze, while Daniels charged in from the perimeter.

It led to a scuffle between the two teams, with an official needing to tackle Daniels to the ground.

Officials assessed Bitadze a flagrant-penalty 2 and ejected him from the game. They dealt Daniels a technical foul for his role in the scuffle.

The Hawks ruled out Landale for the remainder of the game with a right ankle sprain.

Highlight play

Alexander-Walker went deep into his bag on Wednesday. He deployed a series of footwork on, not just one, but two plays that helped him to a 17-point second quarter.

With just under seven minutes to play in the first half, Alexander-Walker caught an outlet pass down low. Alexander-Walker kept the dribble alive, lulling Magic forward Jamal Cain before catching him off guard with a quick drive to the basket.

Alexander-Walker caught the Magic defense off guard one more time with 1:17 to play in the first half. He drove in on Magic forward Paolo Banchero, who initially cut it off and sent him to a trap with Magic guard Desmond Bane.

But Alexander-Walker hit the spin cycle and avoided the double-team. He then drove to the basket for a layup.

What they said

“We’ve got to get more people going more frequently. I think that’s an area that hopefully we can keep getting better there. But he certainly sets the example with that. Some of it too, you don’t have to secure a rebound if you can prevent them from getting it. And we had some loose-ball rebounds on both ends of the floor. And Dyson gets his hands on a lot of balls. He’s just got a nose for it, whether it’s on the glass or during play. When he’s guarding the ball or off the ball, something... He’s got great instincts.” -- Quin Snyder on Daniels’ attacking of the glass.

“I think the game will change, and the game is gonna change and adjust to us, but I think it’s about continuously setting that tone.” -- Alexander-Walker on how the Hawks defended aggressively in the second quarter without fouling.

“Just I’m always have my teammates’ back, you know? I’ll get out there and I’ll get in the trenches for these boys.” -- Daniels on the scuffle in the fourth quarter with Bitadze.

Up next

The Hawks head to Brooklyn to take on the Nets on Friday.

Standings watch

The Hawks got a little separation on the Raptors for the fifth seed following the win. The Raptors actually fell to the seventh seed after losing to the Kings. While the 76ers jumped to the sixth seed after their win over the Wizards.

The Magic’s loss dropped them to the ninth seed ahead of the Heat, who fell to the 10th seed. The Hornets rose to the eighth seed since they have the best record in the Southeast division. That breaks the three-way tie between the three teams.