Indiana Pacers 115, Orlando Magic 109
by Evan Dunlap on Dec 7, 2007 10:21 PM EST
in 2007/2008 Recaps
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Carlos Arroyo looks to pass around the defense of the Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal in the Magic's 115-109 loss to the Pacers on Friday night.
Photo by Phelan M. Ebanhack, the Associated Press
The Magic held a 15-point lead over the Pacers in the second half, but were significantly outplayed down the stretch and lost the game in the end, 115-109. Danny Granger, whom the Magic panned on in favor of Fran Vazquez the 2005 draft, lead the Pacers with 27 points on 6-of-7 three-point shooting. Here's the box score.
Without question, tonight's game was the most frustrating one of the season. Even our embarrassing loss against the Pistons wasn't this bad because I never got the sense we were going to win that one. The Pacers just hung around, waited for us to cool off, then took advantage of their opportunities. They also created opportunities by forcing 23 turnovers, 14 of them on steals. 14 steals!
Here's what I don't understand: we're playing a fast-moving team with good perimeter scorers, yet we didn't play Keyon Dooling, our best bench player, at all. He was healthy, dressed, and available to play, but he didn't get into the game. He certainly would have helped defensively, and he's been hot offensively of late. Stan Van Gundy indeed made a dire mistake by not putting him in the game.
Credit the Pacers for sticking to their game plan and for not backing down from a superior opponent. They won this game every bit as much as we lost it. In the end, it's just one game out of 82. For the first 20 games, we beat the teams we were supposed to beat. That changed tonight, but blowing one game out of 21 isn't so bad, right?
Miscellaneous stuff:
- The Magic's lineup at the end of the third quarter: Carlos Arroyo, J.J. Redick, Keith Bogans, Brian Cook, and James Augustine. I don't think that lineup would have even seen the floor in the preseason.
- Dwight Howard had 30 points and 15 rebounds, but the Magic lost anyway. Orlando is now 3-4 this season in games in which Howard scores 30 or more points.
- James Augustine spent time at center for the first time in his career.
- 7 of the 8 Pacers who played scored in double-figures. The one who didn't Shawne Williams, made up for it by grabbing 5 rebounds.
- Despite being the only Orlando bench player to score in double-figures, and being praised by Stan Van Gundy as the only Magic player who "brought it" tonight, Maurice Evans turned in a team-worst +/- rating of -10. Go figure.
- Granger's 27-point outburst is one of many good performances by players we passed on in the 2005 draft. Remember when Sean May came off the bench for Charlotte last year and torched us for 32 points? Me too.
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Yck
That one left a sour taste in my mouth. Six turnovers apiece from D12 and Turk, questionable rotations from SVG, and the inability to box out killed us, among other things. Indiana is not that bad granted, and the healthier O’Neal gets the better they become, especially if Tinsley stays healthy. But this was a game the Magic should have won. They have not played well on the home turf, or at least compared to how they play on the road. What gives? What really kills about this loss is that it is not the kind of loss that an elite team would lose, typically. I want to believe that the Magic are Elite...
Complacency
That's what killed us tonight. Over-reliance on the jump-shot and a lack of defensive intensity. You're right that Stan kinda screwed up the rotation. But really, one costly decision in 21 games from a new head coach is pretty good, right?
I hope this is the last time we blow a game against a team we should beat. I think The Pacers are better than a lot of people give them credit for, but we still should have beaten them, especially on our own floor, as you mentioned.
Don't feel so bad, though. The Pistons went 2-2 against the freakin' Bobcats last year, and they're an elite team.
saw it live
I agree, the lineup changes were very strange and seeing Augustine with the small lineup was odd. Hedo was the only scorer in the group and overall, shots for him and Rashard were pulling iron all night.
Shard's shot selection was terrible and he would often shoot the ball first thing or after receiving the first pass. Arroyo was lazy with a lot of his passes and caused turnovers which could have been avoided. I think he's the biggest liability of any player with significant minutes.
Last night was a lesson. Both teams played very sloppy basketball and we managed to find a way to lose the game when Indy gave every chance to win.
We had no answer for Granger or O'Neal and the lineups hurt the most in that regard. Evans and Bogans should have been all over Granger and Jermaine really handled Dwight on offense, giving him plenty of back to the basket post moves for short jumpers.
Hopefully, we come away from this with a sense of how to play. Our ball movement is the key on offense and defensively, forcing the other team into poor choices.
by evan on Dec 8, 2007 10:38 AM EST reply actions
Ouch
Sorry you paid money to see that. I hope the team is able to learn from it, and really take it to the Hawks on Monday night.
The paper said last night's game was a sellout. Was it? That'd be pretty impressive, to record a sellout against an unpopular/mediocre team. Although the Pacers are certainly much-improved over last season.
well
The good news is that the tickets were via a friend who took me as the tix were a gift from a customer. She has season tickets and we sat in the $95 seats :) ! Section 122 on the half court side. It was definitely close to a sellout and more seats were filled than just about any game I've been to.
Was kinda bummed because the first 5,000 in attendance got a Dwight figuring that looked like it was made from his sticker dunk. My and my friend ate dinner before going and got there about 20 minutes before tip.
Going to the game tomorrow, too against the Hawks. $10 seats on special from their homepage.
by evan on Dec 9, 2007 5:29 PM EST up reply actions
Not bad
Too bad you missed the sticker figure. Sounds like you had great seats. That must have made up for it. If only the Magic played better...
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