Hawks Refuse to Be Swept Aside

Shaquille O’Neal had carried Orlando to six straight playoff victories. Monday night, he was responsible for the Magic’s first loss.

Atlanta squandered a 20-point halftime lead, then rallied behind Steve Smith’s 35 points to beat Orlando, 104-99, and avoid a sweep in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Magic, which wiped out the Hawks’ big lead with a 30-9 outburst in the opening 8:44 of the third quarter, may have finished the job if O’Neal had made a free throw. But his form got progressively worse and he finished five of 17 from the line.

“Tonight was my fault,” said O’Neal, who has struggled with free-throw shooting throughout his career and is now hitting only 42% from the line in the playoffs. “I don’t make excuses for missing shots. I just missed them. I wasn’t concentrating, but I will be concentrating Wednesday.”

O’Neal guaranteed the Magic, up 3-1 in the series, would wrap it up back home in Orlando in Game 5.

“Winning at home makes it sweeter,” he said. “I’ll be ready to send all the crybabies home.”

Atlanta may have a glimmer of hope if Smith can have another game like Monday’s. Criticized for not shooting enough in the series, he seemed eager to change that perception in one night, firing up 31 shots in scoring his career playoff high.

“I put more pressure on myself to take more shots,” said Smith, whose 12 baskets included a seven-of-14 effort from three-point range. “I looked at the tape and saw I had been passing up shots. I came out more aggressive.”

The Hawks led, 67-47, at the break, but saw that big margin evaporate in the first 8:44 of the third quarter. The 30-9 run put the Magic in front, 77-76, for the first time since the opening minutes of the game.

The Magic led 83-82 heading to the final period, but Smith, who was only one for six from the field in the third quarter, regained his touch. He jammed in a rebound with 3:30 remaining to put Atlanta up 96-92, then hit a 10-foot jumper as the 24-second clock wound down for a 102-97 lead with 40 seconds to go.

After Nick Anderson’s basket closed the gap to three, Smith found Christian Laettner open under the basket. Dennis Scott was forced to foul and Laettner made one of two free throws with 11 seconds left to hand Orlando its first loss of the playoffs.

The Magic was led by Horace Grant and Penny Hardaway with 29 points apiece. Grant finished 14 of 17 from the field and also had 20 rebounds, carrying the load while O’Neal struggled to only 19 points--seven below his playoff average.