Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley did not hide his frustration after Wednesday’s 130-101 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Kia Center. The Hawks swept the season series, and Mosley said bluntly, “We got swept by the Hawks. That’s what it means. They kicked our ass.”
Mosley pointed to Atlanta’s second-quarter burst as the turning point. “They were able to get out and get some easy baskets,” he said, adding that Orlando’s “defense broke down way one too many times” when the Hawks slipped out of screens and turned stops into transition offense.
The Hawks scored 47 points in the second quarter and never let Orlando recover. Mosley said the Magic needed sharper communication and better discipline to slow the game down. “Our communication had to turn up a little bit and it wasn’t there,” he said.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker led Atlanta with 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting, and Mosley credited the Hawks guard’s movement and shot-making. “He moves around. They do a great job bringing him off pins,” Mosley said. “He’s hit some tough ones. He chases that three-point line well. He gets him up.”
Atlanta finished with five players in double figures, shot 51 percent from the field, and won the rebounding battle 52-36. Mosley said the Magic also gave away too many second-chance and transition chances. “We had a few situations where we didn’t get hits on the glass that gave them second shots,” he said.
The loss was Orlando’s fourth straight against Atlanta and completed a season sweep by the Hawks. Mosley did not soften his view of the effort, saying the fans had every right to boo after a night in which Orlando trailed by as many as 31.
“Rightfully so,” he said. “Did we put out the effort that we needed to? Did we have the energy that we needed to? Nope. These fans deserve that without a doubt.”
He added that the standard has to be higher from the opening tip, not after the game gets out of hand. “We deserve to play harder and fight from the beginning of the game, not when we’re down 20,” Mosley said. “You put that jersey on, that’s how you need to play from the beginning of the game to the end of the game.”
Mosley also said the Magic must correct repeated late-second-quarter lapses that have shown up in other losses. “It’s happened different ways in different games,” he said. “But the result is the same thing.”
Orlando, now 40-36, remains in the Eastern Conference play-in mix, but Mosley made clear that the group has to respond quickly. “We’ve got to recognize that,” he said.
