Monday, February 10, 2014

No Magic finish in Orlando for Pacers

The visiting Pacers fell to the Orlando Magic 93-92 Sunday night. The Pacers are now 39-11 on the season while the Magic improved to 16-37.
The Big Plays
There were some key ones down the stretch in this one, but first things first. The Pacers were up 71-54 with 3:55 left in the third quarter, then the Magic outscored the Pacers 26-8 to take the lead on a Victor Oladipo shot with 7:48 left in the game. Orlando took the lead for good on another Oladipo shot at the 7:14 mark. The Pacers were down 92-86 with 1:21 to go, but still had two good chances to win. After cutting the lead to two on a Paul George 3-pointer with 37.7 seconds left, the Pacers got the ball right back after an Oladipo offensive foul. But George missed an open 3-pointer. Then as the final seconds were ticking down, Lance Stephenson picked off a Magic inbounds pass and got it to George, who missed from about 18 feet and the Magic got the ball and ran out the clock.
The Ups
1) It was good to see George get back to form for the Pacers. He finished with 27 points on 10 of 19 shooting. Sure, it would have been better to see him make either that 3-pointer or the final shot of the game. But it was good to see him want to take those shots. The final shot was maybe a bit in question as the Pacers could have called a timeout to set up a play. However, with George loose on a fast break, that's not necessarily a bad option for the Pacers, even though it didn't work this time.
Former Indiana University star Victor Oladipo
torched the Pacers with 23 points off the bench.
2) It was good too to have Lance Stephenson back after he missed a game due to a back injury. Stephenson made two huge plays late in this one, drawing the offensive foul on Oladipo and then coming up with the deflection on the final out of bounds play by the Magic. Stephenson finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists, but also had five turnovers.
3) Indiana University basketball fans are certainly familiar with how good Victor Oladipo was for them before being drafted by the Magic last summer. While Oladipo has had the usual ups and downs almost all rookies go through, he showed he was a legitimate NBA player in this one. He was the primary reason the Magic won this game, scoring 17 of his 23 points in the second half, including 13 in the fourth quarter. Oladipo basically put the team on his back early and midway through the fourth quarter to help Orlando build a seven-point lead by the 5:21 mark of the quarter.
The Downs
1) It's tough to be up by 17 in the second half and lose a game. The Pacers clearly were in control of this one and maybe like the rest of us, they thought the Magic would just float along and play out this game and that the Pacers would go home with a win. But it proves once again that there is no room for letdown, no matter who you play. The Magic were feeling good about themselves having won their last two games, including a comeback win over the Thunder. So hopefully the Pacers can learn from this by not letting off the gas pedal too early the next time they are in that situation.
2) For the game, the Pacers defensive stats don't look that bad. They held the Magic to 41 percent shooting overall, but the fourth quarter was where it fell apart. Led by Oladipo going 5 of 8 from the field, the Magic hit 11 of 21 shots in the quarter for 52 percent. The Magic also handled the Pacers on the boards, outrebounding them 14-8 in the quarter. The Pacers just picked a really bad time to have a bad quarter, mainly losing track of Oladipo way too often.
Afterthoughts
Yes, this should be considered a bad loss, so to speak. When you have the best record in the league and are up 17 in the second half to a team with just 15 wins, it's pretty much a game you should win. It was the Pacers first loss this season on the first night of a back to back games situation. So, now, they come home to face the Nuggets Monday night and must find a way to win in what has been one of their weakest situations of the season, the second night of back to backs.
Next Up
The Nuggets, coached by former Pacers assistant Brian Shaw, come into this game with a 24-25 record, having last played Saturday and losing to Detroit 126-109. The Pacers may receive a big break in this one as Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson suffered a fractured rib Saturday and is doubtful for tonight. Lawson has been averaging 18 points and nearly nine assists this season. The Nuggets are also led by Wilson Chandler at 14.4 points, Randy Foye at 11.8 points, J.J. Hickson at 11.7 points and 9.4 rebounds and Kenneth Faried at 10.4 points and 7.7 rebounds. The Pacers lost to the Nuggets 109-96 at Denver back on Jan. 25. That game also was a second night of a back to back for the Pacers when the Nuggets had not played the night before.



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