Atlanta Hawks Beat Orlando Magic Behind a Career Night From Nickeil Alexander-Walker

The Atlanta Hawks didn’t just beat the Orlando Magic on Monday night. They embarrassed them. Final score: 124-112. But honestly, it wasn’t that close.

Atlanta has now won 10 games in a row, and the way they’re playing right now, it feels less like a hot streak and more like a statement. The Hawks are a team on a mission, and nobody, not even a red-hot Magic squad riding its own seven-game win streak, was going to get in their way inside State Farm Arena.

Hawks Get Career Night From Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Nickeil Alexander-Walker dropped 41 points. Career high. He drained nine three-pointers — one shy of the franchise’s single-game record — and looked like a man who had something to prove all night long.

Nobody had that night circled on their calendar as a 41-point performance from Alexander-Walker. Nobody. That’s what makes sports so wildly unpredictable and so endlessly entertaining.

Jalen Johnson Continues His All-Star Ascent

If Alexander-Walker was the exclamation point, Jalen Johnson was the entire sentence. The Hawks All-Star posted his 13th triple-double of the season, 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists, and made it look effortless. At 23 years old, Johnson is doing things that very few players his age have ever done. Every single night, he finds a way to impact the game differently. Monday was no different.

At one point, Atlanta led by 29 points. Twenty-nine. Orlando managed to chip away late, but by then, the game was already decided. The Magic were just playing for pride at that point.

Hawks vs. Magic Rivalry Adds Another Chapter

Here’s where things got interesting, and a little spicy. In the third quarter, Hawks Center Onyeka Okongwu and Magic Guard Desmond Bane ended up tangled under the basket. As they hit the floor, Okongwu tossed the ball at Bane and picked up a technical foul for his troubles.

Petty? Maybe. But understandable? Absolutely. Back in November, Bane was ejected from a Hawks-Magic game after spiking the ball off Okongwu following a hard foul. Okongwu didn’t forget it. Athletes rarely do. Monday was his version of returning the message — just with a technical foul attached to it instead of an ejection.

Okongwu said it himself after that November incident: “We don’t really like the Magic. They don’t really like us, honestly.” That’s not bulletin board material. That’s just honesty. This rivalry has teeth, and it’s only going to get more entertaining as the season winds down and playoff seeding gets tighter.

Orlando’s Magic Run Out of Luck Against Red-Hot Hawks

For the Magic, this loss stings in a very specific way. Orlando came into Atlanta riding seven straight wins and feeling themselves. Paolo Banchero and Bane each scored 18 points, which on most nights is enough to keep you competitive. But this wasn’t most nights. The Hawks were locked in, firing on all cylinders, and playing with a collective energy that’s genuinely hard to slow down when it gets going.

Seven-game win streaks don’t just evaporate on their own. Sometimes you run into a buzzsaw. Monday night, the Hawks were that buzzsaw.

What This Hawks Winning Streak Means For the Playoffs

Ten wins in a row. Let that sink in. Atlanta entered this stretch sitting in Play-In tournament territory, but the Hawks clearly have bigger ambitions. This run has moved the needle in a meaningful way, both in the standings and in terms of how the rest of the Eastern Conference is now looking at this group.

The Hawks are 37-31, sitting eighth in the East. With the way they’re playing, a top-six seed is absolutely within reach. And if they keep getting performances like the one Alexander-Walker delivered Monday night, that is a legitimate possibility.

The Magic, meanwhile, will need to regroup fast. They face the Oklahoma City Thunder next, which is arguably the toughest possible opponent to draw after a deflating loss like this one.