3 Takeaways From Hawks' 132-125 Season-Opening Win Over Magic

The Atlanta Hawks got their 2026-27 NBA season off to a hot start with a 132-125 win over the rival Orlando Magic.

It should be said that we're going to try not to overreact. This was one game. Sure, they beat an Eastern Conference team that's in direct competition with them. That's exciting, but it's still only one game:

That said, here are three things that stood out from the contest.

Jalen Johnson is the most important player on this team. After him, there are a few candidates:

But Nickeil Alexander-Walker is as good a choice as any.

That's not strictly because of how good he is — although that's the main factor. Alexander-Walker led all Hawks in scoring in this game with 31 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

That last stat is especially significant.

Alexander-Walker's 3-point volume is indispensable for the Hawks. Between Johnson, Dyson Daniels, and Onyeka Okongwu, nobody hit a 3 Wednesday night.

That's abnormal. Unless Okongwu regresses heavily, he can be counted on for a triple or two on plenty of nights. The broader point is that this team has several important players who are shaky shooters, so Alexander-Walker's combination of volume and efficiency is essential to their success.

His shooting was a major part of why Atlanta was able to survive a back-and-forth opener in Orlando, where he finished with 31 points in the 132-125 win.

Luguentz Dort was the Hawks' major offseason acquisition, but he struggled in this one.

By contrast, Aaron Wiggins made a huge contribution.

He's spent his NBA career going under the radar. It's strange, because as Hawks fans learned Wednesday night, he's quite good.

Wiggins had 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. He played positive defense whenever he was on the floor, and he hit some difficult shots throughout the second half of this contest.

This is no knock on Dort. He'll be fine throughout the season and may well exceed Wiggins' production:

But don't underestimate how productive Wiggins can be.

Flemings' regular-season debut didn't go so well, as he wasn't able to register a single point in 15 minutes.

He wasn't as bad as it sounds.

Flemings defended hard, and he made smart passes. Still, the concerns were always about his half-court scoring capacity, and he did not ease those concerns in the Hawks' season opener.

He won't average 0.0 points per game. It's also probably fortunate that he'll be a backup point guard in his first season.

The Hawks don't need major production from Flemings, but they do need more than 0 points from him on any given night.

Hopefully, he gets his first NBA basket in the Hawks' next game:

But if not, he's got plenty of season left.