The Pacers had no answer for Dwight Howard. It was dunk after dunk after dunk for the big guy, which was good, because the Magic had nobody willing to play defense. Here's the boxscore.
It's great to be 13 games over .500, but I'm still not impressed with the way we've played lately. Neither the Pacers nor the 76ers are talented enough to seriously challenge us when we play our best, but we haven't played our best lately.
- Indy Cornrows has the Pacers perspective.
- Carlos Arroyo had another solid game. He took the ball to the basket consistently, and made all 9 of his free throws. He also grabbed 5 rebounds.
- Meanwhile, Jameer Nelson recorded a DNP-CD. That's gotta be the first one in several seasons for him.
- Pat Garrity played for the second straight game, which may indicate he's being showcased for a possible trade. That could be the case, but it's more likely that he's receiving minutes that would normally go to James Augustine, who's sick with the flu.
- Former Magic player Travis Diener posted a career-best 10 assists. Nice to see him playing well.
- Also nice to see Keith Bogans show up. More 4-of-6 from downtown performances will keep him in the rotation... and keep J.J. Redick on the bench. Don't know if that's good or bad.
- Hedo Turkoglu failed to lead the Magic in scoring for the first time in eight games. He had 23 points; Howard did him one better, finishing with 24.
- We "won" the rebounding battle, 40-37, but got absolutely mauled on the offensive boards. Dwight didn't grab any. We need to work on that.
It's great to win, but we definitely need to pick up the intensity.
Enjoy the Super Bowl. Go Giants. See you Monday.