Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Hawks vs. Orlando Magic Prediction, Preview, and Odds – 1-7-2024
The Atlanta Hawks travel to Orlando on Sunday to take on the Magic in an Eastern Conference showdown. Both teams have struggled a bit as of late with each going 4-6 in their last ten games. The Hawks are just 14-20 on the season while the surprising Magic are 20-15 on the season. The opening tap is scheduled for 6:00 PM EST.
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Hawks Having Trouble Taking Off
The Atlanta Hawks have struggled to a 14-20 mark up to this point, including six losses in their last ten games. Rumors are swirling that the team will be active at the trade deadline and they may be in for a major overhaul going forward. On Friday night, the Hawks were ambushed by the high-scoring Pacers on their way to a 150-116 blowout loss. The Hawks’ defense allowed the Pacers to shoot 64% from the field including 71% in the first half. Dejounte Murray led Atlanta with 30 points while his All-Star backcourt mate, Trae Young, was held to just 13 points on 4-of-18 shooting.
“Sometimes there are games where you didn’t play well and we didn’t,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “I don’t know we did anything at the level we need to win against these guys on the road. They’re obviously playing well and made it hard on us. We didn’t have it tonight.”
The Hawks come into Sunday’s action with the third-highest scoring offense in the NBA. The Hawks are 18th in field goal percentage thus far and 18th in 3-point shooting. They do rely heavily on the three-ball, ranked 7th in the NBA in 3-point field goals per game. On the defensive end, Atlanta is 28th in the NBA in points allowed per game. The Hawks are 30th in opponent’s shooting percentage and just 27th in 3-point defense. On the glass, Atlanta ranks 17th in the NBA in total rebounds per game. Despite the team’s stellar backcourt of Murray and Young, the Hawks are 17th in turnovers per game.
Key Injuries: SF De’Andre Hunter (knee) is out.
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Magic Gone?
The Orlando Magic have been one of the surprise teams in the NBA thus far and still are very much in the playoff picture with a record of 20-15 as the NBA season nears the halfway point. They have struggled lately, however, and won just four of their last ten games. In their last game, the young Magic team picked up one of their signature wins of the season in a 122-120 win in Denver against the defending NBA Champion Nuggets. Paolo Banchero led the way with a pair of free throws to give the Magic the lead with under ten seconds to go. Banchero ended with his first career triple-double finishing with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists as the Magic rallied back from a deficit as much as 18 points in the game.
“Just the power of just positive energy and just pushing each other,” said Banchero, who was 15 of 19 from the free throw line. “We just told each other, ‘We’re all we got. We’re going to live with the result, whatever it is, but we’re not just going to roll over and let these guys blow us out.’”
Orlando comes into this game ranked 20th in the NBA in scoring offense. The Magic are 16th in field goal percentage and just 27th in 3-point shooting. They aren’t nearly as reliant on the 3-point shot as the Hawks, ranked 28th in the NBA in 3-point field goals per game. Defensively, the Magic are 11th in defensive scoring. They are 17th in opponent’s shooting percentage and 11th in 3-point defense. The Magic are one of the better rebounding teams in the league, ranked 8th in total rebounds per game. The young team, not surprisingly, struggles to protect the basketball and ranks 25th in turnovers per game.
Key Injuries: PF Jonathan Isaac (hamstring), SG Joe Ingles (ankle), PG Markelle Fultz (knee), SG Gary Harris (calf), SF Franz Wagner (ankle) are all out. C Wendell Carter Jr. (knee) is questionable.
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Best Bets for this Game
Full-Game Side Bet
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One of the things that has made the Magic so difficult to play this season has been the team’s depth. On Sunday, however, the Magic will be down several key players including Franz Wagner, and that depth will be challenged. The Hawks come into this game following a humiliating loss to an Indiana team that plays a completely different style of basketball than the Magic. The Pacers play fast and shoot the 3-ball often. The Magic play at a middle-of-the-road pace and don’t rely on the 3-point field goal nearly as much. In addition, without the bench strength, particularly at guard, on Sunday, the Magic will have problems containing Murray and Young.
Take the Hawks -1.
Prediction: Atlanta -1
Full-Game Total Pick
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The Hawks will be able to play this game at their pace on Sunday with the Magic down several key players including three key frontcourt players that would otherwise help control the glass for Orlando. I expect the Hawks to be able to play at their pace, the fifth-fastest in the NBA, and get more than one chance at the rim on each possession against a depleted Magic team. Look for this game to be played fast and in the 120s.
Take the over.
Prediction: Over 239.5
Atlanta, GA
FBI orders field offices to send analysts to Atlanta for 2020 election investigation, sources say
The FBI is ramping up its investigation into the 2020 election results in Fulton County, Georgia, by ordering field offices across the country to send investigative analysts to Atlanta to help evaluate thousands of records, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
According to a memo sent to all field offices and reviewed by CBS News, the Directorate of Intelligence requested “surge support” to Atlanta to assist in what it called FBI Director Kash Patel’s “priority” investigation. The memo did not explicitly discuss the nature of the investigation, but multiple sources confirmed to CBS News the subject of the memo is the 2020 election probe in Fulton County.
The memo calls on every FBI field office to assign analysts, seeking to reach a total of 260 analysts. Large field offices are being asked to contribute eight analysts each, while small and medium offices must dedicate between three and five analysts. They are being asked to review 708 records each, and complete the work by July 17, the memo shows.
These “tactical intel” staffers typically provide help with day-to-day casework, such as running license plates, doing open-source checks on subjects of investigations, phone analysis, preparing subpoenas and reviewing subpoena returns.
The surge of personnel was first reported by MS Now.
President Trump has repeatedly alleged without providing evidence that officials in heavily Democratic Fulton County manipulated ballot counts in 2020 and that large numbers of votes in the state were cast by deceased Georgians, nonresidents or other ineligible participants.
After Mr. Trump lost Georgia by 11,799 votes, he frequently claimed the election had been “rigged.” But Joe Biden’s win in Georgia was confirmed in both a machine recount and an audit that involved hand recounts by every county in the state.
Earlier this year, the FBI executed a search warrant in Fulton County where it seized “all physical ballots” from 2020, as well as tapes from vote-tabulating machines, ballot images and voter rolls. Home to Atlanta, Fulton County was crucial to Biden’s narrow 2020 win in the state.
The case was referred to the FBI by Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who previously fought to help overturn the results of the 2020 election and now works for the Justice Department, where he is assigned in Miami to help investigate the so-called “grand conspiracy” into whether Obama and Biden-era officials conspired to keep President Trump out of office.
A judge in May denied a request by Fulton County to return the ballots that were seized.
The FBI declined to comment.
I think it’s time to chat again about Eric Hartman. The Braves’ now top prospect completed a 20 HR, 30 SB season on July 1st, through 71 games of his season. He was also ranked the 25th prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America and it’s getting easier every day to see him in the top 10 by the offseason. This is simply a hugely valuable prospect coming from a 20th round pick just two years ago and the back end of the organizational top 30 as recently as March. While he’s only at high-A (probably not for long) and still has work to do on his game, he has rapidly become a potential superstar on the position-player side for an organization that desperately needed talent on that hitting side and has got it this year from not only Hartman.
Haralson County under Severe Thunderstorm Warning
Part of Haralson County is under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, the National Weather Service says.
The warning will be in place until 6:15 p.m.
Officials say a severe thunderstorm has been located near Buchanan around 5:35 p.m. The storm was moving west at 5 miles per hour.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning extended for Carroll, Douglas, and Fulton
The Severe Thunderstorm Warning set to end at 5 p.m. has been extended to 5:45 p.m. by the National Weather Service.
Authorities say the storm was last located near the city of South Fulton, moving west at 5 mph.
The other Severe Thunderstorm Warnings have expired.
Dozens of Georgia counties under Thunderstorm Watch
Dozens of counties across Georgia remain under a Thunderstorm Watch until 8 p.m.
The National Weather Service has issued the watch for the following counties:
- Banks
- Barrow
- Bartow
- Butts
- Carroll
- Catoosa
- Chattooga
- Cherokee
- Clayton
- Cobb
- Coweta
- Dade
- Dawson
- DeKalb
- Douglas
- Fannin
- Fayette
- Floyd
- Forsyth
- Franklin
- Fulton
- Gilmer
- Gordon
- Gwinnett
- Habersham
- Hall
- Haralson
- Heard
- Henry
- Jackson
- Lumpkin
- Meriwether
- Murray
- Newton
- Paulding
- Pickens
- Polk
- Rabun
- Rockdale
- Spalding
- Stephens
- Towns
- Troup
- Union
- Walker
- Walton
- White
- Whitfield
Other counties in Alabama, North and South Carolina and Tennessee are also affected by the watch.
High temperatures continue to cause concerns in Georgia
While parts of North Georgia brace for the impact of the storms and heavy winds, most of the state remains under a Heat Advisory.
Wednesday marks the third straight day of heat advisories across parts of north Georgia. While the advisory no longer includes all of metro Atlanta, it does cover North Fulton, South Fulton and several western metro counties, where it could feel as hot as 106 to 107 degrees between noon and 8 p.m., according to the National Weather Service and CBS News Atlanta Next Weather meteorologist Troy Bridges.
Actual air temperatures are expected to climb to around 96 degrees Wednesday afternoon, well above the typical high of 89 degrees for this time of year.
Read more here.
Warning downgraded to watch for Towns, Union, and Fannin
The Severe Thunderstorm Warning affecting parts of Towns, Union, and Fannin County in North Georgia has been canceled.
Authorities with the National Weather Service say the storm the prompted the warning has weakened to the point where it “no longer poses an immediate threat to life or property.”
Instead, a Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for the area until 9 p.m.
List of current Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia
Here are the current storm warnings in place for Georgia.
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings
- Central Cherokee County until 4:45 p.m.
- East central Carroll County, southern Douglas County, southwestern Fulton County until 5 p.m.
- Southwestern Cobb County, central Douglas County, southwestern Fulton County until 5 p.m.
- Southwestern Towns County, Union County, northeastern Fannin County until 5 p.m.
Flash Flood Warning
- Northeastern Union County until 10:15 p.m.
Severe Thunderstorm warning in place for parts of metro Atlanta
The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Carroll, Douglas, and Fulton counties until 5 p.m.
Officials say a storm with winds of up to 60 miles per hour was slowly moving near Douglasville at 4:27 p.m.
Another warning is in place for parts of Cobb, Douglas, and Fulton counties. This warning is also expected to end at 5 p.m.
Residents should prepare for possible heavy winds, quarter-sized hail, and fallen trees.
Flash flood warning issued for parts of Union County
A flash flood warning is in place for part of Union County until late Wednesday night.
The National Weather Service says the warning will remain in place for the northeastern part of the county until 10:15 p.m. after radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain in the area.
Officials estimate one to 2.5 inches of rain have already fallen and there may be one to two more inches of rainfall possible in the area.
Residents should prepare for small creeks, streams, and other areas with poor drainage to flood.
Drivers should not attempt to driver through flooded roads.
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