The Atlanta Hawks opened their season with a 132-125 road win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, surviving a loose start, a third-quarter swing and a late push that turned a clean opener into a grind. Nickeil Alexander-Walker gave Atlanta the last separation it needed with back-to-back three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
That finish mattered because the Hawks had already led by as many as 12 points in the first half and then watched the Magic seize momentum by outscoring them 38-27 in the third quarter. Atlanta needed every answer it could find after struggling on both ends early, and CJ McCollum helped keep the offense afloat while Jalen Johnson dealt with foul trouble.
Johnson’s night tells the other side of the win. He picked up early fouls in the second half and spent an extended stretch on the bench, while Johnson and Paolo Banchero exchanged words as the game grew chippy. Before that, Jock Landale took a hit from Nikola Vucevic near his left eye early in the second quarter, a moment that fit the tone of a game that kept bending before it broke Atlanta’s way.
The Hawks also did enough in the details to stay in control. They held Orlando without a field goal for more than three minutes during the second quarter, and all five Hawks starters except Onyeka Okongwu finished in double figures, giving Atlanta scoring balance when the game tightened. It was not clean, but it was enough for an opening road win that showed how much this team can survive when the shot-making and the spacing are working.
That makes Friday’s road stop against the Charlotte Hornets the next test, and it comes with a clearer question than the opener did: whether Atlanta can pair its perimeter shooting with cleaner defense when the game gets messy again.
