Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. ó The Orlando Magic arenít ready for their season to end just yet.
Facing their first opening round postseason exit since 2007, the Magic blew out the Atlanta Hawks 101-76 on Tuesday night.
Jason Richardson scored 17 points and J.J. Redick added 14 off the bench to lead the Magic.
The win trims Atlantaís seriesí lead to 3-2 and keeps alive the Magicís hopes of becoming the ninth team in NBA history to win a playoff series after trailing 3-1. If they can win Game 6 Thursday in Atlanta, they would host a decisive Game 7 on Saturday.
Magic center Dwight Howard battled foul trouble throughout the night and had just one field goal, finishing with eight points and eight rebounds. Orlando didnít need his offense, though, as it broke out of a series-long shooting funk with 11 3-pointers.
ěWeíre a good shooting team,î Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ěThis is more of us than what we showed in the first four games…This isnít an aberration. Weíve been doing this for four years. The first four games were the aberration.î
Josh Smith scored 22 points to lead Atlanta, which shot below 40 percent for just the second time this series.
The Magic cruised in the second half, allowing Howard to log his first extended rest of the series in the fourth quarter as their lead crept above 30 points.
In a short turnaround following his teamís loss in Game 4, Van Gundy preached patience over panic to his team. It paid off in a big way as Orlando was unselfish in its half court sets and passed the ball to free up its shooters.
That allowed the Magic to push the pace and keep the game up tempo. The Hawks have won every game with the Magic this season in which it kept them under 90 points.
For the second straight game the Magicís bench got some production led by Redick. It also got 11 points from Ryan Anderson and nine from Gilbert Arenas, who had erupted for 20 in Game 4.
The Hawks couldnít miss in the first four games, but were cold throughout Tuesday. They shot a series-low 36 percent overall and 25 percent from beyond the arc.
The Magic finished at just 41 percent, but hit 42 percent of their attempts from 3.