By John DentonNov. 9, 2015
INDIANAPOLIS – The often quirky nature of the NBA schedule suggested that the Orlando Magic should have been the fresher, more energetic team on Monday what with them having Sunday off and the Indiana Pacers playing a hard-fought game in Cleveland.
But that supposed advantage never materialized in the first three quarters as Orlando couldn’t shake free from the Pacers. And just when it looked like the Magic were about to seize control of the game and pull away, they inexplicably hit the wall in the fourth quarter, leading to another puzzling late-game collapse.
The Magic led by three points with 7:28 to play, but they went the next 5:46 without a point – a stretch that saw them turn the ball over four straight times and then miss four shots – and Indiana used a 12-0 run to win 97-84 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“Give credit to the Pacers because Paul George made great plays and they just had more energy at the end of the game. They’re pretty good,” said Magic guard Evan Fournier, who scored 21 points, made four 3-pointers and held George in check for much of the second and third quarters. “You can see it happening with the momentum changing. They have the momentum and they make shots, they get every rebound and 50/50 ball. That’s how you close out a game. They played better down the stretch.”
The Magic (3-5) saw their modest two-game winning streak come to an end because of more troubling closing issues. The Magic had late leads against Washington, Oklahoma City and Houston, but came unglued and struggled to execute in the clutch in those losses.
This time, after springing to an 81-78 lead on a 3-pointer by Channing Frye (14 points and eight rebounds) the Magic lost their cool as the Pacers (4-4) picked up the pressure. Orlando turned the ball over on the next four possessions and then missed its next four shots. By the time they scored again – on an Evan Fournier 3-poiinter with 1:42 to play – the Magic found themselves in a 92-84 hole.
“We had a lot of careless turnovers, balls slipping and 50/50 balls not going our way,” said Magic guard Victor Oladipo, who had 15 points and seven rebounds, but he turned the ball over four times. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the rim and they could. At the end of the day, (Skiles) is right and we have to trust the offense and move the ball. That’s when we’re effective.”
In the game, Orlando turned the ball over 22 times, leading to 21 points for the Pacers. Seven Magic players had multiple turnovers in the game. The Magic scored 34 points off Indiana’s 18 turnovers, but the Pacers did not give the ball away over the final 7 1/2 minutes.
“We were really sloppy with the ball all night and even some plays that we made we were throwing the ball at each other’s knees, we had trouble catching it and some bounce passes in the paint we fumbled,” Magic coach Scott Skiles said. “We weren’t sharp enough to win. We made it close and we possibly could have stolen it, but we were sharp enough.”
In addition to the turnover woes, the Magic shot just 39.7 percent – with many of the misses coming on shots in the restricted area that they couldn’t finish. Forward Tobias Harris missed his first eight shots, finished three of 13 and scored just eight points. Point guard Elfrid Payton chipped in 11 points, but he failed to score in the second half and he turned the ball over three times after intermission.
George, who came into the game averaging 31.3 points over his last three games, scored 27 points – doing most of his damage early and late. He had 19 first-quarter points, but he didn’t make another field goal until there was 5:51 to play. That shot put Indy up 83-81 and it never trailed again as the Magic inexplicably went cold down the stretch.
“We fell asleep on a couple of coverages and then George hit a big three, we lost (Chase) Budinger in transition and then we’re playing catchup,” Skiles said. “I thought in the first 7 or 8 minutes, I thought Paul (George) might go for a 100 on us because our defense was very, very poor. We scrambled around and tried to play better defense, but I don’t know how many shots we missed in the restricted area again. And we had open people all over the place, but we had kind of a greedy game. Guys were just putting their heads down and driving and we had no rhythm.”
Standout center Nikola Vucevic did some on-court work on Monday morning, but he still missed his third consecutive game because of a bone bruise in his right knee. Vucevic, who is averaging 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots a game, was injured last Wednesday in Houston when his knee buckled without contact.
The Magic were also without 7-footer Jason Smith because of a sore knee. Smith, who has given Orlando a big lift off the bench of late, accidentally banged knees with a foe on Saturday in Philadelphia and was unable to play. That meant playing time for Frye, who had two 3-pointers in each half.
Frye’s final 3-pointer was a big one, giving Orlando an 81-78 lead with 7:28 to play. However, Frye turned the ball over on the next two possessions and Indy zipped into control of the game.
“At that point in the game we have to know what plays are going to work, who’s hot and who’s not and we turned the ball over,” said Frye, who made five of 10 shots and four of nine 3-pointers. “I had two stupid turnovers. Again, it’s one of those things where if we’re not scoring we need to buckle down on D. They got loose a couple times and Paul George made a big three. For us, we’re going to learn from this and we have to continue to push ourselves and pay attention to the details of the game.”
Orlando will be back on the practice court on Tuesday to prepare for Wednesday night home game against the Los Angeles Lakers. It could be the final game in Orlando for Kobe Bryant, who has hinted at retirement following this season. The Lakers play in Miami on Tuesday night, meaning the aging Bryant might not even play against the Magic at the Amway Center.
Down one at the half, Orlando took the lead early in the third period on a Harris 3-pointer – his first make of the night after eight straight makes. The Magic held the lead most of the period and had a 71-66 lead on an Oladipo floater in the lane.
But Indiana scored the final six points of the period to take a 72-71 edge into the fourth. Coach Scott Skiles was whistled for his first technical foul with the Magic when Oladipo was blasted on a drive to the hoop and there was no call. However, the technical foul didn’t hurt the Magic as George Hill missed the free throw.
Orlando came into the game ranked fourth in the NBA in field goal percentage allowed, yet it had little success at all at getting defensive stops in the first half. Indiana shot better than 50 percent much of the first quarter and finished the first half at 45.5 percent, leaving the Magic in a 49-48 hole at intermission.
At the end, the Magic could only look back and kick themselves for letting another game get away against a good team that could have provided a signature win. Because the Magic don’t have a superstar player like the Pacers do with George – his 19 points in the first quarter was something to see – they have to better trust their offense, their passing and cutting. Yet again, however, the Magic turned the ball over repeatedly down the stretch and have no one to blame but themselves.
“Every loss irks me, but for us (taking care of the ball) is something that we have to correct,” Frye said. “That’s going to come from practicing the details. At the end of the game we have to know, `OK, in the first three quarters, this play is going to work and this is what we’re going after, we need a layup and we need to get this guy an open shot.’ Once we figure all of that out, it’s going to help us out.”
