The Hawks are on the verge of getting back at the team that blew them out of the playoffs a year ago.

The Orlando Magic can't figure out what's going on.

Before leaving his hometown, though, Dwight Howard issued a challenge to his teammates.

"If they don't believe we can still win," he said, "stay in Atlanta".

No one took the Atlanta native up on the offer, so the Magic headed back to Orlando knowing their season is one loss away from being over much sooner than anyone expected. Jamal Crawford scored 25 points and Joe Johnson hit four big free throws in the closing seconds to lead the Hawks to an 88-85 victory on Sunday night for a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

They can wrap it up in Game Five on Tuesday night.

"Our confidence is through the roof," Johnson said. "We're just trying to ride this wave right now."

Johnson calmly stepped to the line and made two free throws with 20.2 seconds remaining, extending a one-point lead. He did it again under the same circumstances with 10.5 seconds left, making everyone forget Atlanta's dismal performance at the line to that point.