Atlanta Hawks: Top 5 Rivalries Entering 2015-16
By John Buhler
Previous: . Orlando Magic. 5. team. 38. .
This was at one time one of the Atlanta Hawks’ fiercest rivalries. When Orlando was at the top of its game under former HC Stan Van Gundy with stars like Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, and Rashard Lewis, the Magic were one of the best teams in the NBA for a three-year stretch (2009-11).
While Orlando was clearly the better team at that time, Atlanta was starting to get comfortable being part of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs after a nine-year absence that ended in 2008 when Atlanta took the Boston Celtics to seven games as an 8-seed.
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Since Howard’s and later Van Gundy’s exodus, the Magic have crashed back to Earth, as Atlanta has ascended towards the top of the East. But I see these Southeastern Division foes getting back to having a strong rivalry in the next few years.
Orlando feels like a team on the rise with its young talent like Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo, Nikola Vucevic, and Mario Hezonja. I see the Magic taking a step in the right direction under new HC Scott Skiles who is known to take a bad team and make it respectable.
I’m not saying that the Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic will meet in the Playoffs like they did in both 2010 and in 2011, but expect more crazy finishes like the Tobias Harris jumper in mid-December to beat the Hawks at the Amway Center. Only this time it’s Jeff Teague sinking the game-winning shot at Philips Arena this fall. Fingers crossed.
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