Trae Young plays despite illness but Hawks lose to surging Magic

AP photo by John Amis / Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young tries to keep the basketball from going out of bounds during Wednesday night's home game against the Orlando Magic. AP photo by John Amis / Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young tries to keep the basketball from going out of bounds during Wednesday night's home game against the Orlando Magic.

By PAUL NEWBERRY / The Associated Press February 26, 2020 4 min read

ATLANTA – The Orlando Magic are hardly championship contenders. They’re not even a .500 team.

No wonder they’re relishing the chance to be part of the NBA postseason hunt

Evan Fournier scored 28 points – half of them in the fourth quarter – Aaron Gordon added 25 and the Magic pulled away in the final period for a 130-120 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

Orlando improved to 26-32 with its second straight road victory, maintaining a 4 1/2-game lead for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and closing within a half-game of the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 7 seed.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said James Ennis III, who hit a key 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter after the Hawks had closed to 111-107.