Jason Richardson scored 17 points and the Orlando Magic remained alive with a convincing 101-76 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks in Tuesday’s Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
J.J. Redick sparked fourth-seeded Orlando by scoring 11 of his 14 points in the opening quarter as the Magic took charge early while cutting fifth-seeded Atlanta’s lead in the best-of-7 series to 3-2.
Richardson did not play in Orlando's Game 4 loss, serving a one-game suspension for a scuffle with Atlanta's Zaza Pachulia in Game 3. He made 6-of-14 shots - including three 3-pointers - for his best output of the series.
Orlando can even the series when it resumes Thursday in Atlanta.
Josh Smith had 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Hawks, who shot just 36.2 percent from the field.
Orlando led 26-13 after one quarter as Redick made all five of his shots. The lead moved above 20 points four minutes into the second quarter and reached 30 points at 88-58 on Redick’s 20-footer with 7:54 to play.
The Magic’s largest lead was 32 points. Orlando hit 11-of-26 3-pointers after struggling through the first four games of the series.
Orlando shut down Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson, Atlanta's leading scorers. Crawford, averaging 24 points, had eight on 2-of-8 shooting. Johnson,. averaging 20 points, had five on 2-of-12.
Magic superstar center Dwight Howard sat out most of the final quarter and had just eight points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes. He came in averaging 32.2 points and 17.5 rebounds in the series.
Atlanta | Orlando | |
Josh Smith 22 | Scoring | Jason Richardson 17 |
Al Horford 6 | Assists | Jameer Nelson 5 |
Al Horford 14 | Rebounds | Dwight Howard 8 |
Josh Smith 7 | Free Throws Made | Dwight Howard 6 |
Marvin Williams 2 | Steals | Jameer Nelson 3 |
Al Horford 1 | Blocks | Brandon Bass 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Atlanta | 76 | 36.2 | 4-16 | 22-32 | 15 | 43 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
Orlando | 101 | 41.0 | 11-26 | 22-29 | 18 | 48 | 4 | 7 | 6 |