Orlando Magic vs. Atlanta Hawks, NBA Play-In Tournament Preview: Keys to the Game, TV, Odds

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Play-In Tournament is here.

For the first time, the Orlando Magic (41-41, 7th in East) take part in the win-to-get-in competition that precedes the first round of the NBA playoffs. Tuesday night, they do so against the Atlanta Hawks (40-42, 8th), who find themselves back in the Play-In for a fourth consecutive season.

Atlanta will be looking for its third advancement in four years through the competition. Orlando, on the other hand, will look to not need an elimination game to keep alive the perfect record of No. 7 seeds advancing on to the playoffs.

The winner of Tuesday's contest gets a date with No. 2 seed Boston, while the loser hosts either No. 9 Chicago or No. 10 Miami – dependent on the winner of Wednesday's elimination game – in their building Friday night. Friday's winner heads to Cleveland for a series with the top-seeded Cavaliers, while the other begins its offseason.

Before delving into the keys to the game to monitor, here's the quick facts you need to know regarding the contest:

Quick Hitters

TV, Radio, Betting Info

Who: Orlando Magic (41-40, 7th in East) at Atlanta Hawks (39-42, 8th in East)
What: Eastern Conference No. 7-8 Play-In-Tournament Game
When: Tuesday, April 15, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Kia Center, Orlando, Florida
TV: TNT
Radio: 96.9 The Game (Orlando), Sirius XM
Latest Spread: Orlando -5
Over/Under: o/u 216
Moneyline: Orlando -205
Season Series: Split 2-2

PLAY-IN GAME TODAY
🆚HAWKS
📍@TheKiaCenter
🎟️ https://t.co/rbNV5XTnXQ
⏰7:30 P.M.
📺@NBAonTNT
📻@969gameon
📡@SIRIUSXM (outside Magic area) https://t.co/OGEgANeBgh
📝https://t.co/j9Hljw5O2X

What are they wearing👇 pic.twitter.com/NQeyWjbCQ3
— Orlando Magic PR (@Magic_PR) April 15, 2025

Injury Reports

The Magic have everyone who can still be available this season set to go for Tuesday. Trae Young is probable for Atlanta with right Achilles tendinitis.

To see the full reports for each team, click here.

Leading Scorers

Orlando Magic

Paolo Banchero: 25.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists
Franz Wagner: 24.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists
Cole Anthony: 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists
Anthony Black: 9.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists
Wendell Carter Jr.: 9.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists

Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young: 24.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 11.6 assists
Caris LeVert: 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists
Dyson Daniels: 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists
Onyeka Okongwu: 13.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists
Zaccharie Risacher: 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Georges Niang: 12.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists

Meet the Coaches

Jamahl Mosley, Orlando Magic: 4th season, all with Magic, one career playoff appearance. (144-184, 3-4 in playoffs)

Quin Snyder, Atlanta Hawks: 11th season, 3rd with Hawks, seven career playoff appearances. (458-363, 23-34 in playoffs)

What to Watch For

You guys again?

Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (50) dribbles against Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) during the first half at State Farm Arena. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Orlando and Atlanta, divisional foes in the Southeast, met four times this season – all of which came after Feb. 10. After closing the regular season against one another in Atlanta, the faux home-and-home swings back to Orlando with much higher stakes.

No regular contributors played significant minutes, if any at all, for either team in Sunday's closer. The Hawks won 117-105 to draw the season series even, but all standings were set before the ball was ever tipped.

So, their three prior meetings can better serve as reference for what to expect. With the sets of contributors available Tuesday playing in those games, the average final margin of victory was just 6.3 points. Orlando won once at Atlanta and once at home, while the Hawks took a contest in the Kia Center.

Their familiarity with one another certainly helps, and the two teams have met previously with raised stakes. The Magic's Apr. 8 win helped Orlando put one hand on the division title and the No. 7 seed, which it did a night later.

"Being able to play them with something on the line already definitely puts us in a position of being comfortable," Jonathan Isaac said Sunday, "and knowing that we’re going to have to play them again with something to lose. I think we’re in the right frame of mind."

"There’s a familiarity that you definitely know, but I think that in these games, that’s when little things matter," Mosley said. "Because we played them close the majority of the game, so understanding what we do and how we can tighten up our details, focus on the gameplan.

"We’re familiar with them, they’re familiar with us, so we’ve got to make sure we’re doing all the tiny things to give us a chance.”

But have the two teams seen everything one another has to offer?

According to Magic on Monday, it's not a simple matter of yes or no.

"I would say both teams adjusted a little bit in the couple games in the regular season," Franz Wagner said. "It's not quite like a seven-game series; we only really played three games where everybody was playing, so I think it's a little bit of that, but I'm sure both coaching staffs have some stuff up their sleeve."

"We kind of got an idea of their style of play, but I'm sure they're making adjustments as we are, too," Wendell Carter Jr. said. "Personnel-wise, tendencies, I think we've got a really good feel for what guys like to do on that team."

Trae Young, the conductor

Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) shoots the ball over Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) in the second quarter at Kia Center. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The biggest personnel challenge Atlanta poses comes disguised as one of their smallest players.

Trae Young, a master manipulator pulling the strings for Atlanta's offense, is at the top of Tuesday's scout. That's always the case with the Hawks' star guard, who averaged 24.2 points and a league-leading 11.6 assists per game in this, his fourth All-Star campaign and seventh NBA go-round.

It was one of his least-efficient years of his career scoring-wise, but Young has an affinity for coming up big when the lights are bright. In the clutch this year (38 games), he finished third in total points (152) and first in total assists (37).

Yet, it's not just his scoring you have to worry about.

"He's one of those guys where you're scared of him getting everybody else involved as well," Wagner said. "I don't know what he's averaging, but obviously he's a great scorer himself, so I think those are always pretty dangerous players."

Wagner will likely take the brunt of defending Young in Tuesday's matchup. When they met a week ago, Wagner spent 4:08 as his primary defender and held him to two points on 1-of-7 shooting (0-4 3PT), but Young also dished four of his 10 assists in that time, per publicly available league tracking data.

Young's three games versus Orlando this year saw him average 28.3 points, 8.0 assists and 5.7 turnovers, and the Magic won two of those three games.

However, the Magic know not to dismiss him as incapable of reaching another level.

"He's going to find different ways," Mosley said. "You can draw up any type of play, of defense you want; great players find a way to break that down. Being able to see a lot of things, and we're going to see some different ones [Tuesday]. You can bet on that with him and how great of a player he is.

"There's so many intangibles he possesses that, you can run through plays, but sometimes it's just great players being great."

Playoff risers?

Orlando Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (3) shoots a three-point basket during the second half against the Atlanta Hawks at Kia Center. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

By Mosley's description, he's painting Young as the type that's become known as a playoff or postseason riser.

Players cut from that cloth, Mosley later said, "[are] not afraid of moments. They're not afraid to fail, they're not afraid to win big. They just go out there and play and manipulate defenses all over the place, and the great defenders find a way to get big stops down the stretch. But none of the great players are afraid of the moment."

Paolo Banchero was one a year ago, elevating his game during his first-ever All-Star campaign to All-NBA-like marks in his playoff debut: 27.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists in a seven-game grinder with the Cleveland Cavaliers. On the other side, Young has been no stranger to pulling the weight for Atlanta come late April and May.

But, playoff risers don't always come in the form of first-option players. Stars need to shine at their brightest, but to go far, so too does the supporting cast around them.

Someone like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a two-time champion and 12-year veteran in the league, could fill that void.

"KCP says he lives for these moments," Carter said Monday. "He's telling us we're going to see the "Playoff KCP," so we all know what that looks like. We've all seen what he's done in the postseason in recent years."

Caldwell-Pope arrived in Orlando last offseason after winning titles in his two previous stops: the Lakers in 2020 and the Nuggets in 2023.

In the Lakers' title-winning playoff run, Caldwell-Pope averaged 10.7 points and shot 37.8 percent from three. When they were a first-round exit the following year, though, those figures dropped to 6.2 points and 21.1 percent accuracy from deep.

With Denver in 2023, Caldwell-Pope again averaged 10-plus points (10.6) and shot 38.0 percent beyond the arc en route to the franchise's first-ever title. The following season's dropoff wasn't as severe, but Denver flamed out in the second round as Caldwell-Pope scored just 8.1 points and shot 32.7 percent from three.

Several factors have to go right for playoff wins to come together. As has been the story all year, with Orlando's best supplementary options behind Banchero and Wagner sidelined, the Magic will need bigger contributions from their co-stars behind the features of their offense.

Caldwell-Pope is one of many that fits the mold of potential risers.

"I think he's going to help us so much on both ends of the court," Carter said. "His shotmaking ability, the way he can defend. I think him leading with not only his voice but by example is what's going to help us take that leap this year."

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