Pacers-Magic Preview

By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Posted May 01 2012 3:53PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Through two games of their opening-round playoff series, the Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic have both had moments to laud and lament.

Minus Dwight Howard, the Magic owned the underdog tag and successfully stole home-court advantage with a win in Game 1. Then the Pacers were able to brush off a woeful finish in that loss, regroup, and use all their personnel advantages down the stretch to blow past the Magic in Game 2 on Monday.

The question now is who has established their early postseason identity more as the series shifts to Orlando on Wednesday for Game 3?

"Obviously we want to go back home and play off the momentum of the crowd and just play better than we did (Monday)," Magic forward Ryan Anderson said after the 93-78 Game 2 loss. "We know that we can play better than this and play harder than this."

While Anderson and the Magic are certainly hoping to get an energy boost from an Amway Center crowd still reeling after last season's first-round exit, conditioning will certainly be a factor for both teams with just one day to rest.

Indiana trailed at the half for the second straight game before getting that boost in the second half that coach Frank Vogel said would be a necessity in this series. It came at a cost, though, with Pacers starters Danny Granger and David West both logging over 40 minutes. They averaged 33 and 29 minutes per game, respectively, during the regular season.

Both teams took it easy Tuesday, with the Magic taking the day off and the Pacers holding only a light practice in Indianapolis before boarding a plane to Florida.

After five games against each other this season, there doesn't seem to be a lot of mystery left to uncover.

The strategy is the same as it was when the series began: The Magic need to shoot the ball well and run the floor to negate the Pacers' size advantage. Meanwhile, Indiana wants to resist the urge to get in a shootout with Orlando, while pounding the ball inside and running the Magic off the 3-point stripe.

Game 2 was mission accomplished for the Pacers, holding the Magic to just 8 for 25 from beyond the arc, and frustrating them inside with a 50-28 edge in points in the paint. Indiana also outrebounded Orlando 46-38.

"It's all about who wants it more," Pacers guard Paul George said. "We look at it as a 50-50 ball and the man that wants that ball more is going to go after and go get it. We wanted to make sure we got as many 50-50 balls as we can."

Granger had 18 points, but struggled to shoot the ball, going 7 for 21 from the field and just 1 for 10 from 3. The bigger numbers, though, were what he did defending Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu. He was held to just 10 points, two assists and one rebound.

Anderson, who the Magic are depending on to produce offensively with Howard out for the season following back surgery, went just 3 for 9 from the field. It followed an equally quiet five-point effort in Game 1 for the candidate for the NBA's most improved player award.

Granger said their effort underneath starts with how West is playing.

"They don't have an answer for David West in this series," Granger said. "We knew our bigs would be a huge advantage for us. We've just been riding that. When David gets going, it's hard to stop him."

West hasn't been in the playoffs since 2009 with New Orleans, but Vogel said West's experience is a huge factor in his play to this point. For his career West is averaging 16 points and seven rebounds in the postseason.

"He's providing our team with the necessary swagger to get a playoff win," Vogel said. "He's just dialed in. He is a playoff-tested veteran."

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said it's not so much the players who are scoring the Pacers' points, but how they are doing it.

"We can't give up 22 fast-break points, 25 second-chance points and have 16 turnovers," he said. "I mean, it gets back to very basic things and we're not going to have a chance to win if we do that."

The promising news in the Magic closing the rebounding and second-chance scoring gap is that with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Glen "Big Baby" Davis maintained his consistency in Game 2 playing as an undersized center.

New roles or situation aside, Davis said there continues to be a no-excuse mentality throughout the Magic locker room.

"It's the playoffs, we got to go. We have to find it and regroup," Davis said. "We're going home and we're just tired...I think we have to find our niche out there and get guys the ball at the right time."

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Reach Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower

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AP Sports Writer Cliff Brunt in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

Pacers shoot past Magic to take 2-1 lead

By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Posted May 02 2012 11:26PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) In the first two games against the Orlando Magic, the Indiana Pacers struggled to make the most of their size and matchup advantages.

After several days of repeated tongue lashings from coach Frank Vogel, the Pacers finally got the message and capitalized on both, running past the Magic 97-74 on Wednesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

Danny Granger had 26 points and nine rebounds, Roy Hibbert added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Indiana held Orlando under 80 points for the second straight game.

The Pacers regained home-court advantage, riding good shooting early, building a 29-point lead in the fourth quarter and cruising to the victory.

"I think we're adjusting," Hibbert said. "We see what they're doing. ... They made their run at the end of the first quarter. We adjusted, then we tried to lay it on them as much as possible."

Indiana dominated scoring underneath thanks to a 46-33 rebounding edge and has outscored the Magic 81-43 in the third quarter in the series.

"Terrific win by our club," Vogel said. "We understood the importance of winning on the road, and to be a great basketball team, and to go on a deep playoff run which is what we hoped to do starting this season."

Vogel said the goal was to limit Orlando's 3-point attempts and thought that "holding that team to 15 3-point field goal (attempts) when they average 28 is a strong defensive effort."

Glen Davis led the Magic with 22 points, and J.J. Redick added 13. The Magic never led, struggled to get any scoring in the paint, and made a series-low five 3-pointers.

One of the biggest disappoints in the series continues to be the play of Ryan Anderson, who was held to seven points and one 3-pointer. He has scored 23 points total in the three games.

"I'm not going to lie, it's frustrating as a group (and) in general to lose a game like this," he said. "But obviously we can bounce back and player harder next game. The great thing about this is we have another game, so keep playing."

Vogel also implored the Pacers after each of the first two games to make better shot selections.

They finally did that as well.

It translated into their best shooting of the series as the Pacers built a 23-point lead in the third quarter and led 76-55 entering the fourth.

Indiana had its way both inside and out, shooting 47 percent for the game (37 for 79) and holding a 42-22 edge on points in the paint.

Meanwhile, aside from Davis, Orlando's offense stalled at several points and the Magic connected on only 30 of their 71 attempts from the field.

Indiana led 44-38 at the half, but started the game on an offensive tear hitting nine of its first 10 shots from the field and shot 52 percent (18 for 34) for the half.

The Magic had few answers for Hill, who scored 13 points in the opening two periods.

Orlando survived the fast start, though, thanks largely to Davis' 16-point second quarter. His scoring spree featured mid-range jumpers and some baskets in the post. It all came after Davis missed all three of his shots in the first quarter.

The Pacers put the Magic in a 10-point first-quarter hole for the third straight game, jumping out to a 13-3 advantage.

Orlando missed its first five shots before Hedo Turkoglu hit a 3-pointer to finally put the Magic on the board.

Granger said he thinks the roots of the Pacers resurgence the past two games aren't hard to find.

"That (Game 1) loss really woke us up," he said. "It showed us what Orlando was capable of and we knew we had to really play in this series to win. We have just been executing especially on the defensive end...In a playoff series it's kind of like a chess match."

Game 4 is Saturday in Orlando, and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said changes must be made during that time if they're going to turn things around.

"They clearly dominated us tonight, and that's three first quarters and three third quarters where it's been the same story. So we'll take look at that and see if we want to make some changes or something. We can't be playing out of a hole all the time."

As good as it feels to have the Magic backpedaling now, though, Pacers guard Paul George said no one is feeling like the series is over yet.

"It gives us confidence, but at the same time we know this team is dangerous," he said. "We don't want to be happy about just being up 2-1, but just take it one game at a time. Basically, this could be a long series if we don't take care of business."

And generate another talking to from their coach.

Notes: Indiana outrebounded Orlando for the third consecutive game. ... Orlando G Jason Richardson started Wednesday after jamming his left thumb in the Magic's Game 2 loss. ... About a dozen Magic fans sitting near midcourt wore homemade Davis-inspired "Baby's Crazies" t-shirts. ... Wednesday was George's 22nd birthday.

Notebook: Pacers 97, Magic 74

Posted Wednesday May 2, 2012 11:42PM

By Dick Scanlon, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Indiana Pacers hit nine of their first 10 shots and led all the way in a 97-74 rout of the Orlando Magic, leaving the Pacers with a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Danny Granger scored a game-high 26 points for the Pacers, and Roy Hibbert added 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Glen Davis scored 16 of his 22 points in the second quarter to keep the Magic in the game, but the Pacers held Ryan Anderson scoreless until well into the fourth quarter. Anderson finished with seven points in 32 minutes.

The Pacers got the first nine rebounds of the game and finished with a 46-33 rebounding edge.

QUOTABLE: "That (Game 1) loss really woke us up. It showed us what Orlando is capable of, and we knew we had to really play in this series to win. We have been executing, especially on the defensive end. Our offense comes and goes, but defensively we've been there the whole series."
-- Granger

THE STAT: The Pacers have won the third quarters by margins of six, 17 and 15 points.

QUOTABLE II: "They clearly dominated us tonight, particularly at the start of the game and then in the third quarter again, and that's three first quarters and three third quarters where it's been the same story. So we'll take a look at that and see if we want to make some changes or something. We can't be playing out of a hole all the time."
-- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy

TURNING POINT: After a horrible start, the Magic had come back to make it a six-point game at halftime. But Hibbert scored inside and the Pacers opened the second half with six straight points. The Magic never again got the lead under nine.

HOT: Granger hit a couple of 3-pointers as the Pacers grabbed an early 21-10 lead on 9-of-10 shooting.

NOT: A 16.1 point scorer during the regular season and the NBA leader in 3-point field goals, Anderson is averaging 7.7 in this series and is 5-for-15 from 3-point range.

GOOD MOVE: By clinging to Anderson, mostly with David West or Granger, the Pacers have effectively taken his offense out of this series.

BAD MOVE: The Magic attempted to defend the 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert with Ryan Anderson on several occasions, and he was badly overmatched.

QUOTABLE III: "They've got a size disadvantage without (injured) Dwight Howard in there. There's no secret there."
-- Pacers coach Frank Vogel

IN THE ARENA: Pacers president Larry Bird enjoyed the game from his seat behind the team's bench.

NOTABLE: Over the last three seasons and including this series, the home team is 3-8 in Orlando-Indiana meetings ... Pacers guard Paul George had 12 points and seven rebounds on his 22nd birthday ... The Magic are shooting 39 percent and averaging 77.7 points in the series.

UP NEXT: Game 4 Saturday, 2 p.m., ET.

• Pacers: Fesenko, Foster
• Magic: Howard, Liggins

• Pacers: --
• Magic: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
• Officials: #43 Dan Crawford, #47 Bennie Adams, #22 Bill Spooner
• Attendance: 18846
• Duration: 2:13