Hawks eye 10th win in a row against Magic

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Atlanta Hawks are flying high with a nine-game winning streak and will put the surge to the test Saturday on the road against the Orlando Magic in the back end of a home-and-home.

The Hawks have won nine in a row for the first time since ripping off 11 straight victories from Oct. 31-Nov. 18, 1997. They will try to push their road winning streak to five games tonight.

Atlanta defeated the Magic, 87-81, Friday and recorded its sixth straight win at home. Paul Millsap scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Al Horford collected 17 points and seven boards, and Jeff Teague posted 13 points.

The Hawks shot 37.2 percent from the floor and took advantage of 19 Orlando turnovers, converting them into 18 points.

"We needed a game like this, when things weren't falling on the offensive end and we had to pick it up defensively," Teague said. "Second half, I think we did a pretty good job making it tough for them."

During the nine-game run, the Hawks are averaging 101.1 points per game.

Atlanta is 16-6 and tied with Washington for first in the Southeast.

The Magic are second-to-last in the division and have lost two in a row and eight of their last 11 games. In last night's loss at Philips Arena, Victor Oladipo posted a team-high 21 points and Evan Fournier added 18.

Kyle O'Quinn recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Tobias Harris registered a double-double of his own with 13 points and 11 boards for Orlando, which shot 39 percent and made just 9-of-26 3-pointers.

"We have to beat those elite teams, like Washington and Atlanta, and we can't beat them right now," Fournier said.

Magic center, leading scorer and top rebounder Nikola Vucevic missed his sixth straight game because of back spasms. He is amassing an average of 18.6 points and 11.7 rebounds. Vucevic leads the Magic with 13 double-doubles.

Orlando looks to stop a four-game home losing streak Saturday and is 2-13 in the last 15 regular-season games versus the Hawks.