Brandon Bass had 17 points and eight rebounds and Dwight Howard added 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic to a 102-73 preseason victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.
Jameer Nelson scored 17 points for the Magic (6-0), while Vince Carter had 13 points and three rebounds.
"I think our defense right now is far ahead of our offense," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I'm not trying to be negative. We've just got to go to work. What's getting us through is our intensity. Our intensity is very high. We're playing tougher than we were a year ago."
Reserve Josh Powell scored 13 points for the Hawks (1-4), while Joe Johnson had 11 points, on 3-of-10 shooting, six rebounds and four assists and Josh Smith added eight points and seven rebounds.
"Guys around here are pretty confident and our jump shooting was shocking," Smith said. "This is a game we can definitely learn from. They've (Magic) been having statement games every game."
The Magic's starting unit outscored the Hawks' 29-16 in the first half, shooting 11 of 20 from the field compared to 5 of 22 for Atlanta.
The Magic outrebounded the Hawks 50-33.
Notes: The Magic were without G Jason Williams (left knee arthroscopic surgery), who did not travel with the team. Van Gundy said before the game that he is hopeful Williams will be running in practice by the end of the week, but he will not appear in the Magic's two remaining exhibition games against Dallas and Miami. ... Hawks G Jeff Teague sat out with a sprained right ankle, and F Pape Sy was out with continuing muscle tightness in his lower back.
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