Nickeil Alexander-Walker's career-high 41 fuels Atlanta's 10th straight win. The Hawks dominate offensively, solidifying their status as the NBA's hottest team.
The Atlanta Hawks can't stop winning! Atlanta defeated the Orlando Magic 124-112 on Monday night for its 10th consecutive victory. The Hawks are now 37-31, and if they hadn't already been, are officially the hottest team in the NBA. With the win, Atlanta is now just 1.5 games back of the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a career-high 41 points on NINE 3-pointers. Atlanta saw itself with a 30-point lead halfway through the third quarter, and cruised to its 10th straight win. Jalen Johnson recorded another triple-double, posting 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists in the win. The NAW-Jalen Johnson is one of the more underrated duos in the entire NBA.
"This felt amazing," said Alexander-Walker after the game. "This game was very slow for me, but my teammates kept injecting confidence in me; it felt like an adrenaline rush all night."
This winning streak has featured the Hawks capturing several blowout wins, and this was another against the Magic. The winning streak began on Feb. 22 and has now lasted over three weeks.
Orlando came into Monday night winners of its last seven games, but the Hawks have played on another level at home over the 10-game winning streak. Monday also marked the seventh time in Atlanta's winning streak that they scored 120+ points. The Hawks are firing on all cylinders right now, especially on the offensive side of the court.
Atlanta has taken advantage of being on its home court over this stretch. They also have nine straight home wins, but the Magic contest ends a run of two five-game home stands in recent memory. The Hawks will now go on the road to face the Mavericks and Rockets. 14 games are remaining in the regular season, as Atlanta continues to creep its way out of play-in purgatory.
In a second straight game, second-chance opportunities led to a plethora of Hawks-made baskets. Atlanta dominated on the offensive glass with 15 offensive rebounds.
This win on Monday was big for the Hawks to show that the "soft schedule" during their winning streak does not matter, and they proved every bit of that against the Magic. Orlando played hard and brought it to within 10 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Atlanta's continuous hot shooting in the final frame of the game led to another victory. Atlanta has defeated Orlando in all three of their head-to-head matchups this season and will go for the season sweep on April 1.
It's possible at this point that the Hawks go a full calendar month without a loss if they defeat Dallas and Houston later this week.
