Orlando defeats Indiana 82 - 80
July 10, 2008 | By Melanie Curtsinger
The Orlando Magic withstood a furious late comeback attempt from the Indiana Pacers to capture their first win, 82-80, at the 2008 Orlando Pro Summer League on Thursday evening at the RDV Sportsplex. After seemingly having the game in hand with less than 30 seconds on the clock, Orlando saw a six-point deficit almost disappear before holding off Indiana, who dropped to 2-2 in summer league play with the loss.
The Magic played catch-up themselves in the fourth, falling behind by as many as five, 75-70, on two free throws from Stephen Graham with 3:04 left on the clock. But Orlando answered with a Courtney Lee jumper from the elbow and a Marcin Gortat lay-in to cut the lead to one, and then Lee gave the Magic their first lead of the quarter, 76-75, on another 15-footer. After pushing the margin up to six, Indiana made their move when Graham was fouled on the 3-point line on the Pacers’ next possession. After converting the first two, the third shot from the charity stripe went off the hands of a Magic player, and the subsequent inbounds play saw the Pacers’ Shawne Williams hit a 3-pointer from the wing with only 8.3 seconds left in the game to trim the advantage to one. It was too little, too late, however, as Orlando’s Cliff Hammonds hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line and Indiana’s Earl Calloway missed a 15-footer from the corner as time expired that failed to push the game to overtime.
Indiana struggled out of the gates, hitting only 4-of-14 shots from the field in the first quarter, while Orlando got out to a strong start behind Marcin Gortat’s eight points and four rebounds to give the Magic the early 21-14 lead.
The two teams’ roles quickly changed in the second quarter, however. After leading by as many as nine in the early moments of the second, the Pacers turned the tables on the Magic, outscoring them 24-13 to take a four-point, 38-34 lead heading into the break. The Pacers’ charge was led by Indiana Hoosier product Calloway and former Texas Tech forward Andre Emmett, who combined to score 16 of the team’s 24 in the quarter and finished with 12 and 10 for the half, respectively. Emmett ended the contest as the Pacers’ leading scorer, tallying 17, just ahead of Calloway’s 16.
Lee and Gortat paced the Magic with 18 points each, while James Augustine and Hammonds also reached double figures with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Orlando also owned the boards in the game, outrebounding Indiana 35-28 behind Gortat’s 11 rebounds, which garnered him his second consecutive double-double during summer league action.
The Orlando Magic withstood a furious late comeback attempt from the Indiana Pacers to capture their first win, 82-80, at the 2008 Orlando Pro Summer League on Thursday evening at the RDV Sportsplex. After seemingly having the game in hand with less than 30 seconds on the clock, Orlando saw a six-point deficit almost disappear before holding off Indiana, who dropped to 2-2 in summer league play with the loss.
The Magic played catch-up themselves in the fourth, falling behind by as many as five, 75-70, on two free throws from Stephen Graham with 3:04 left on the clock. But Orlando answered with a Courtney Lee jumper from the elbow and a Marcin Gortat lay-in to cut the lead to one, and then Lee gave the Magic their first lead of the quarter, 76-75, on another 15-footer. After pushing the margin up to six, Indiana made their move when Graham was fouled on the 3-point line on the Pacers’ next possession. After converting the first two, the third shot from the charity stripe went off the hands of a Magic player, and the subsequent inbounds play saw the Pacers’ Shawne Williams hit a 3-pointer from the wing with only 8.3 seconds left in the game to trim the advantage to one. It was too little, too late, however, as Orlando’s Cliff Hammonds hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line and Indiana’s Earl Calloway missed a 15-footer from the corner as time expired that failed to push the game to overtime.
Indiana struggled out of the gates, hitting only 4-of-14 shots from the field in the first quarter, while Orlando got out to a strong start behind Marcin Gortat’s eight points and four rebounds to give the Magic the early 21-14 lead.
The two teams’ roles quickly changed in the second quarter, however. After leading by as many as nine in the early moments of the second, the Pacers turned the tables on the Magic, outscoring them 24-13 to take a four-point, 38-34 lead heading into the break. The Pacers’ charge was led by Indiana Hoosier product Calloway and former Texas Tech forward Andre Emmett, who combined to score 16 of the team’s 24 in the quarter and finished with 12 and 10 for the half, respectively. Emmett ended the contest as the Pacers’ leading scorer, tallying 17, just ahead of Calloway’s 16.
Lee and Gortat paced the Magic with 18 points each, while James Augustine and Hammonds also reached double figures with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Orlando also owned the boards in the game, outrebounding Indiana 35-28 behind Gortat’s 11 rebounds, which garnered him his second consecutive double-double during summer league action.
