The Atlanta Hawks went to their big lineup and brought Jason Collins into the game to front Dwight Howard. The strategy worked. Howard picked up two quick fouls and did not play for the last eight minutes of the first quarter. Marvin Williams and the rest of the Hawks started nailing down shots.
Williams has eight points and three boards off the bench and Josh Smith and Joe Johnson posted six points each to lead the Hawks to a 27-25 lead over the Orlando Magic after one period at Philips Arena.
Hedo Turkoglu posted eight and Brandon Bass added six for the Magic, who shot 55-percent (11-for-20) from the field.
But the biggest story in this one was the absence of Howard. That opened up the middle and after Smith took a few dumb jumpers, the Hawks started to go inside. And when the Hawks go inside, they can beat a lot of basketball teams.
Howard played just 3:54 of the first quarter and attempted one field goal. He had no points in the frame.