96
112
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Friday, October 19 at 7:00 PM at Amway Center
Instant Rewind (Preseason): IND 96, ORL 112
by Mark Montieth
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Instant Rewind
The Pacers were dominated in their 112-96 loss, turning in a poor defensive performance that allowed Orlando to hit 55 percent of its field goal attempts.
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The Pacers' only positive stretches of play came early in the second and third periods. Other than that, they had little to offer for the cause of competition.
Orlando jumped to a 13-4 lead as the Pacers hit just two of their first six shots. J.J. Redick scored six of Orlando's points.
Tyler Hansbrough, who led all scorers with 23 points off the bench, led the Pacers' best surge. He converted a three-point play with 1:40 left in the first period and added a foul shot on their next possession that reduced Orlando's lead to three points. The Pacers then ran off 10 consecutive points – four each from Hansbrough and Jeff Pendergraph – for a 31-27 lead early in the second quarter. Hansbrough's field goal and Gerald Green's off-balance jumper pushed the advantage to 35-29, but
Orlando regained a 49-41 lead at the half. Jameer Nelson scored nine of its final 16 points.
The Pacers twice got within two points early in the third period, but Orlando put the game away with a 19-2 run that led to a 76-57 lead. Glen Davis, who led the Magic with 21 points, scored seven points in that stretch as he proved too agile for the Pacers' big men.
Coach Frank Vogel went deep into the bench in the fourth quarter, when the Pacers never got closer than 11.
Inside the Numbers
Davis led the Magic with 21 points, hitting 9-of-14 shots. Jameer Nelson added 15 and East Chicago native and Purdue graduate E'Twaun Moore added 13 on 6-of-10 shooting in 32 minutes off the bench.
Hansbrough, who hit 1-of-8 shots in Tuesday's win over Atlanta, hit 6-of-10 against the Magic and added 11-of-13 foul shots. He played 21 minutes off the bench.
David West had 14 points for the Pacers in a second consecutive solid performance, and Paul George and Gerald Green added 13 each. George, however, hit just 6-of-21 shots and missed all eight three-point attempts. He had hit 4-of-14 shots against Atlanta.
D.J. Augustin, starting at point guard in place of George Hill, went scoreless in 24 minutes, and failed to contain Nelson.
The Pacers showed slight improvement in their ballhandling. They entered the game averaging more than 19 turnovers in the preseason, but had 15 against the Magic.
Luke Nevill, Blake Ahearn and Sundiata Gaines got rare playing time, playing the final 8 ½ minutes. Ahearn scored five points and hit his only three-point shot.
Former Pacer Al Harrington is on the Orlando roster. He has yet to play while recovering from a torn meniscus in his right knee, suffered at the end of last season.
Another former Pacer, Josh McRoberts, started for the Magic. He finished with four points and two rebounds in 14 minutes.
Stat of the Game
Orlando finished with 30 assists, twice as many as the Pacers. That was a reflection of its superior ball movement and its ability to penetrate the Pacers' exterior defense and get into the lane to dish off for dunks and layups.
Quotable
"We talked before the game about being aggressive and attacking the basket, not settling. He settled. He came up to me after the game and basically apologized for not (executing the game plan). He didn’t play the way we want him to play, the way he wants to play. You learn from it and move on."
—Vogel on Paul George
"They played their hearts out tonight. We didn’t play to the best of our abilities. You have to give it to them in that aspect. They seem like they have a lot of young and hungry guys. They are rebuilding so I guess they just need a couple more pieces and they will be back to where they were."
—Pacers center Roy Hibbert
"Preseason is about the coaches exploring options in terms of who is going to do what and who is going to make the team. You can’t get too high or get too low in preseason. We have our core back and once we get everybody healthy and start playing again we will be more consistent."
—Hibbert
"They played well. It wasn’t our time. We are just trying to get to know each other’s game and we will be alright. I tried to do my part coming off the bench. I tried to bring a lot of energy and scoring opportunities and play aggressive tonight. I just happened to get some looks and things started going my way."
—Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough
"He missed one game due to injury and … I had not used that combination before as far as starting Glen (Davis) at the five, and so it gave us a chance to see if that combination could be effective for us going forward."
—Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn on starting Josh McRoberts
Noteworthy
- Hill, Danny Granger and Ian Manhimi did not dress for the Pacers. Hill and Manhimi could play tonight against Memphis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, while Granger is being saved for the final two preseason games.
- Lance Stephenson's first shot at playing point guard in the preseason didn't go well. Playing 20 minutes off the bench, he missed all five shots (four of them three-pointers) and had three assists and four turnovers.
- Roy Hibbert scored 10 of the Pacers' first 15 points, but did not score after that. He played 22 minutes and hit 5-of-9 shots.
- The Pacers are 2-2 in the preseason. Orlando is 1-4.
Upcoming
The next home preseason game is Saturday, October 20th vs the Grizzlies at 7:00 PM EST ( Tickets » ).
The Pacers open the regular season Oct. 31st in Toronto, with the first home game being Saturday, November 3rd against the Sacramento Kings. Tickets for Opening Night go on sale to the General Public on October 18th.
