APIn the second half, the crowd took out its frustration on Johnson as he kept missing the mark.
“That doesn’t bother me,” he said. “I could care less if they showed up or not.”
Late in the third quarter, Orlando stretched its lead to 26 points. At that point, Howard’s numbers looked rather mortal — 11 points and nine rebounds. He did the bulk of his scoring and rebounding after the game was long since decided.
Not too many fans were around for the ending. When J.J. Redick swished a 3-pointer to make it 88-59 with more than 8 minutes remaining, many in the crowd popped out of their seats and headed for the exits.
The Magic led by as many as 31 in the final quarter — not quite as dominating as their 43-point win at home in Game 1, but not too far off considering this rout came on the road.
Jamal Crawford led the Hawks with 22 points, but Smith (15) and Horford (11) were the only other Atlanta players in double figures.
Orlando hasn’t lost in more than a month, and the Hawks — a 53-win team that claimed the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference — surely don’t look like a group that has any chance of ending that streak.
“You can tell they’re hungry,” Johnson said. “They want to get back to the Finals. You can just see it.”
The Magic’s last defeat was a 112-100 setback at San Antonio on April 2. They have lost only three times in their past 30 games, showing they are very much a team that can challenge East No. 1 seed Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers, the top seed out West and the team that beat Orlando in last year’s NBA finals.
NOTES: The Magic dominated the boards, finishing with a 51-34 rebounding edge that was largely piled up on all those Atlanta misses. Three technicals were called, all in the third quarter: Smith for Atlanta, Barnes and Van Gundy for Orlando. ... The Magic have beaten Atlanta in nine of the last 10 meetings between the division rivals.
Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 85-75 in Game 7 on Saturday night to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
CSN: You may not see it from start to finish, but when the game — or in this case, postseason life — is on the line, you see just how good Rajon Rondo can be.
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