Dwight Howard had 33 points and 19 rebounds, Jameer Nelson added 13 points and eight rebounds and the Magic held off the Hawks 88-82 last night in Orlando in Game 2 of their playoff series.
The Magic evened the best-of-seven series, with Game 3 Friday in Atlanta.
Orlando used a 10-1 run to close the third quarter to take an 11-point lead into the fourth and fought off a late Atlanta charge down the stretch. The Magic struggled from the field shooting just 34 percent and had 16 turnovers. But they defended well.
After allowing the Hawks to become the first opponent in 16 straight playoff games to score 100 points against it in Game 1, Orlando’s defense tightened around Atlanta’s shooters in Game 2. The Hawks shot 39 percent.
“It’s not anything I did — our guys did it,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said when asked about the adjustments he made after Game 1. “You gotta get out and take the challenge.”
The Magic overcame a 10-point first-half deficit en route to the win. It was Orlando’s largest comeback victory in the postseason since May 2009, when it overcame a 16-point deficit to beat Cleveland.
Jamal Crawford led Atlanta with 25 points and Josh Smith added 17, but they missed 15 shots between them and expended a lot more energy to get off attempts.
Mavericks 101, Blazers 89
In Dallas, Peja Stojakovic tied his career playoff best with five 3-pointers and had 21 points, and Jason Kidd continued showing off a surprising scoring touch with 18 points, powering the Mavericks to a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 14 of his 33 points in the final quarter for Dallas, which hadn’t won the first two games of a playoff series since the 2006 NBA finals.
Portland, led by LaMarcus Aldridge’s 24 points, led most of the first half, but the Mavs went ahead on a 3-pointer by Kidd seconds into the second half and never trailed again.