The Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic were running close together for the Southeast Division lead. The Hawks have been hot and cold all year while the Magic have been dealing with different injuries throughout the season. Since 2016, Orlando has fallen off in the standings and will now be looking to bounce back as they prepare to go head-to-head on Monday.
The Magic trail the Hawks by three games for the lead in the division. They are coming off a loss to the Toronto Raptors in London where they managed to force overtime before falling off. Now as they try to rebound, they will be without Victor Oladipo who suffered a right knee injury in the loss to Toronto. He did still managed to put up a season-high 27 points, but will now be force to sit. Since getting back into the starting lineup, Oladipo has been averaging 20.4 points on 53.7 percent shooting. However, the Magic will be without that Monday and could struggle to replace those numbers.
Meanwhile, Atlanta needs to try and find some consistency. The team suffered back-to-back losses before getting a 114-86 win over the Brooklyn Nets. That helped the Hawks avoid three-straight losses, but there is still a lot improving that needs to be made. Paul Millsap can only carry the team for so long. He put up 21 points against the Nets while averaging 21.3 points on 56.8 percent shooting in his last three games. The issue is that he is not getting consistent help around him.
Last year the Hawks had DeMarre Carroll running the scoring tandem with Millsap. This year, Kent Bazemore has stepped up, but both Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague are struggling on any given day. The Hawks are trying to get Tim Hardaway Jr more involved with things along with Mike Scott. They will be critical in getting the offense moving against Orlando.
The Hawks are seeking their fourth straight win over the Orlando Magic as they lead Miami by one game in the Southeast. With all three teams expected to be in play come postseason time, the Hawks must keep ironing out issues in order to stay at the top.