By Matthew Gardner | OrlandoMagic.com

A strong third quarter performance enabled the Orlando Magic to erase a five-point halftime deficit and pick up their eighth win of the season with a 96-91 victory against the Indiana Pacers. Jameer Nelson led Orlando with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Dwight Howard added 16 points and 11 rebounds. The Magic play seven of their next eight games on the road, beginning with Friday night's contest at Miami.

After trailing 51-46 at the end of the first half, Orlando came out firing in the third quarter and outscored the Pacers 27-17 in the quarter. Despite a back-and-forth fourth quarter, the Magic were able to respond at the appropriate times in order to maintain the lead and hold off the Pacers.

The team also got a lift from Darko Milicic, who had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks off the bench. Starter Grant Hill added 14 points and Tony Battie had a strong effort with 8 points and 10 rebounds.

The Magic switched up its defensive scheme in this game in order to slow down Al Harrington, who put up 32 against Orlando the last time they met. But the defensive strategy works as the Magic held him to only four points on 2-of-13 shooting. Jermaine O'Neal led the Pacers with 23 points, while Jamaal Tinsley and Stephen Jackson each scored 19.

9:43PM: Stephen Jackson misses a three attempt and Darko is fouled after grabbing the rebound with 14.8 left on the clock. Darko - not the best from the line - hits 1-of-2 and Indiana quickly gets a bucket from Tinsley. The Magic lead is at three - 94-91 with 5.2 left in the contest. Grant Hill is fouled by Tinsley (who fouls out). One free throw by Grant will more than likely ice the win. He hits the first and the second and it's 96-91 Orlando and that's the game! MAGIC WIN!

9:39PM: Indiana wastes no time getting to the basket as Jackson is fouled by Howard. He hits both free throws and it's now a 93-89 game with 22.6 left. Orlando gets the ball inbounds and Nelson is immediately fouled. But he misses both free throws and Indiana has 20.8 left on the clock to make up a four point deficit. They are going to want a quick possession, followed by a quick foul.

9:35PM: Jackson hits 1-of-2 from the free throw line for Indiana (92-87) and Dooling misses a shot at the other end. However, the Pacers can't connect and Tinsley is forced to foul Dooling with 26.5 left in the game. Dooling misses the first, but hits the second and the Magic lead 93-87.

9:32PM: Tinsley is fouled by Jameer and hits both free throws to make it a 90-84 Magic lead. Jameer misses a jumper at the other end, but Tinsley can't connect on two attempts (one blocked by Darko). Next Magic possession, Keyon Dooling drives the lane and hits a float, but Tinsley drives at the other end and hits the shot. Magic 92, Pacers 86 with 1:33 left. A turnover for the Magic allows Indiana to take possession and Dooling fouls Stephen Jackson.

9:30PM: I should note Jameer's great game. Our point guard has 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Dwight has 16 points, 10 rebounds, while Grant has 12 and Darko has 10 points off the bench.

9:27PM: Magic up by four, 86-82 and Howard goes to the line as O'Neal picks up foul No. 5. Dwight misses the first....and the second. But Magic retain possession as Al Harrington is called for the foul. Milicic cans an outside shot and the lead goes back up to six, 88-82. O'Neal isn't able to convert on a turnaround jumper and here come the Magic as Grant's smooth stroke inside the free throw line makes it an eight point game, 90-82 with 2:30 left in this one.

9:20PM: Indiana pulls within two, but Darko is able to post up O'Neal for a layup and the Orlando go back up by four, 81-77.

9:17PM: Jermaine O'Neal just about came crashing into my Baseline Blog as he crashed into the first row of media seating. But no worries, the Baseline Blog is secure in its second row location. Back to the action and the Magic holding a four point lead at 79-75. Jermaine O'Neal is causing us some problems, but we are maintaining a slight lead.

9:13PM: O'Neal has his shot blocked by Darko, but gets in back and fires up a jumper before the shot clock expires to draw Indiana within one, 74-73. One item to note...J.J. Redick is active for tonight's game, but with it being such a close contest, it might be tough to get him into his first NBA contest. The inactives tonight are James Augustine, Travis Diener and Pat Garrity.

9:09PM: Dwight picks up back-to-back fouls on O'Neal and goes to the bench with four fouls as the Magic lead, 74-69.

9:06PM: Fourth quarter we go and Darko's hook increases the Magic lead to six, 74-68.

9:02PM: That's the end of the third quarter and your Magic have roared back into this one and will go into the final period with a 72-68 lead. Should be an exciting fourth quarter.

8:58PM: Keith Bogans comes into the game, hits 1-of-2 free throws and then cans a three as the Magic now lead 72-67.

8:57PM: The Magic are having a very strong third quarter and have built a four point lead, 69-65, with 1:53 left.

8:46PM: Buckets by Stephen Jackson and Jeff Foster put Indiana up by one, but Grant Hill hits a layup and then follows by hitting a free throw on another possession as the Magic retake a two point lead. Jameer Nelson then swishes a shot and the lead grows to four, 64-60. The Magic have started the third quarter by outscoring the Pacers, 19-9.

8:42PM: A 3-on-1 fastbreak leads to a sweet alley-oop from Jameer Nelson to his partner in crime, Dwight Howard. Everyone in the building saw it coming but the Pacers couldn't do anything to stop it. A three point Magic lead.

8:37PM: A lot of made buckets on fouls tonight. Jameer just completed a three-point play to pull the Magic within one at 56-55. Now, Jameer was just fouled again and will go to the line to give the Magic the lead. If he hits both, it will be the first Magic lead since the 6:52 mark in the first quarter. He ties the game with his first and he hits the second and Orlando's got the lead - 57-56.

8:33PM: Third quarter underway and the Magic have crept within four points, 53-49. Dwight Howard and Tony Battie have both put points on the board to start the second half, but Jermaine O'Neal continues to have a great night. He scored the Pacers opening bucket and just got a three-point play (bucket, foul & free throw) to make it a 56-49 game. Hedo's shot and free throw bring the Magic back witin four at 56-52. 8:13PM: The Magic will go into halftime looking for answers. Dwight Howard (12 points, 9 rebounds) just dunked back a Keyon Dooling miss, but the Magic are still down by six, 51-45 as they head to the locker room.

8:11PM: Just 1:36 left in the quarter and the Magic aren't able to get on enough of a run to retake the lead as Indiana is now up, 51-43 as the half winds down.

8:08PM: Keyon Dooling hits 1-of-2 free throws to bring the Magic within one possession, but a spin move by Jermaine O'Neal ends with a basket made and the Pacer All-Star heading to the free throw line. He makes the free throw and Indiana goes back up by six, 47-41. But Keyon keeps things going with another make and Indiana can't convert on the other end.

8:05PM: That comeback didn't last long as the Pacers come out of the timeout and score five points to bring the lead back to eight. Jameer hits a pair of free throws to cut it to six and then nails a jumper to make it a four point game, 44-40.

7:59PM: We may see a momentum shift here. After Dwight nailed a shot, Carlos Arroyo completes a three-point play after being fouled on a bucket and converting the free throw. In the matter of a few seconds, the Magic pull within three, 39-36 with 5:51 left in the half. Indiana calls timeout.

7:58PM: Somebody needs to kick it up a gear or two, because the Magic aren't looking too dandy so far. Indiana is now leading 39-31 and outplaying the home team.

7:48PM: That dreaded turnover word is popping its head up again tonight. The Magic have eight already in the first 15 minutes of play. Fortunately, Indiana already has 10. Grant was just fouled as he hit a shot. He connects on the free throw to complete the three point play and Orlando trails by three, 31-28.

7:44PM: After falling down by seven, Carlos Arroyo hit a jumper for the Magic's first two points of the second quarter and cut the deficit to five, 29-24. The Pacers then turned over the ball on their next possession, but Darko Milicic was unable to connect on a shot just within the free throw line.

7:40PM: That's the end of the first quarter with the Pacers leading, 27-22.

7:39PM: Not a great end to the first quarter for the Magic. The Pacers are getting to the other end of the floor before the Magic can get set up 'D' and they already have seven fastbreak points. With just 18.7 left in the quarter, the Pacers lead by five, 27-22.

7:30PM: Still a close game at the 2:39 mark. Magic and Pacers tied at 19 apiece. Dwight Howard, who is looking for his third straight 20-20, is off to a good start in the points category with 7 off of 3-of-4 shooting. He also has three rebounds. Trevor Ariza, Carlos Arroyo, Darko Milicic and Keyon Dooling have joined Dwight on the floor.

7:22PM: Close game through the first five plus minutes with the game tied at 14. Jamaal Tinsley has eight of Indiana's 14 points. Jameer has scored five, while Battie and Howard each have four.

7:12PM: Tip-off time at the arena. D12 in the middle with Mr. O'Neal. And the ball goes to...the Magic and Dwight misses a hook-style jumper. Indiana takes the ball down floor and Jamaal Tinsley sores the first points of the game. Next Magic possession, Jameer Nelson gets the home team on the board with a jumper.

7:10PM: Welcome to game No. 12 of the NBA season as your Orlando Magic welcome the Indiana Pacers to town. Tonight's starting lineups: For the Pacers - Danny Granger, Jermaine O'Neal, Al Harrington, Marquis Daniels and Jamaal Tinsley. And for the Magic - Hedo Turkoglu, Tony Battie, Dwight Howard, Grant Hill and Jameer Nelson.

Pre-Game Preview
After hitting a bump in the road near Graceland, the Orlando Magic have returned home tonight where they'll try to shake off a loss in Memphis when they welcome the Indiana Pacers to town.

There's been a lot of disappointment surrounding Monday's loss to the 2-8 Grizzlies. However, Memphis was due for a win and their up-and-coming core of Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry and Hakim Warrick arose to the occasion.

But enough with excuses. The Magic can stay among the top teams in the Eastern Conference should they bring back a little bit of that Elvis T.C.B. (The King liked to coin his "taking care of business phrase" everywhere) from Memphis. Coach Hill has been saying for weeks that the turnover problem was going to become a factor and that the team was playing through to enormous amount of TOs on borrowed time. That was definitely the case in Memphis.

The good news for Orlando is that this early season Dwight Howard play doesn't appear to be a fluke. D12 has now recorded back-to-back 20-point/20-rebound games, making his the first to accomplish such a feat since Tim Duncan did it last in March of 2003. The last player to tally three straight 20-point/20-rebound contests was Kevin Willis from Nov. 20-23, 1991.

Howard has three 20/20 efforts this season…The most 20-point/20-rebound games during the last 10 years is nine, set by Shaquille O’Neal during the 1999-2000 campaign. The most 20-point/20-rebound games during the last 20 years is 12, set by Kevin Willis in 1991-92…Moses Malone has the most 20-point/20-rebound outings during the last 30 years, accomplishing the feat 31 times back in 1978-79.

If Howard keeps putting up the 20/20 numbers, he should be a shoo-in come All-Star time. Let's see if he can add another one to his resume on Wednesday night. See you at the arena!