"After the Hawks defeated the Magic in the Eastern Conference playoffs last spring, much of the analysis centered on all the shots Orlando missed.

Before the teams met Friday for the first time since that series, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy lauded how the Hawks played defense then.

"Their defense was good against us, and it affected us," Van Gundy said. "We missed some shots that were presented to us, but their defense was outstanding. That certainly was the biggest factor in our struggles."

It was the same scenario for the rematch. The Hawks used gritty defense to build a nine-point lead, squandered it, and then survived to win 89-87 in overtime.

The Hawks (18-9) won their fourth consecutive road game and improved to 5-7 against opponents with winning records.

"After they came back to tie it, it could have been a time for us to walk away with our tails between our legs," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "What we did instead was respond."

The Hawks blew a 78-70 lead when they failed to score over the final 2:26. Orlando tied the score with 1.3 seconds to play when Dwight Howard followed Jameer Nelson's miss with a dunk.

Orlando took leads of 81-78 and 83-81 in overtime when the Hawks took control with three consecutive baskets. Jeff Teague pulled up for a jumper, Joe Johnson scored on a runner and then Johnson made a challenged, turnaround jump shot for an 87-83 lead."