Pacers drop Magic behind Granger’s big night

Winning on the road is never easy in the NBA, even if you’re the Orlando Magic.  Despite owning the NBA’s best road record entering the contest at 18-6, the Magic struggled throughout the contest before falling to the Indiana Pacers 107-102 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday night. 

All five Indiana starters scored in double figures, paced by 33 points from Danny Granger.  TJ Ford scored 21, Troy Murphy 20, Mike Dunleavy 11 and Jarrett Jack 10.  The Pacers’ bench also produced another double digit scorer, with Roy Hibbert contributing 10 points to the winning cause.  As usual, Dwight Howard was an almost unstoppable force in the middle for Orlando as he finished with yet another “double/double” on 21 points and 20 rebounds.  Hedo Turkoglu added 20 points, 11 assists and 6 boards while reserve JJ Reddick chipped in for 17 points. 

After the game, Turkoglu suggested that his team may have lacked intensity against an opponent with a losing record:

"They played last night, so we thought it was going to be a little easy, they're going to be tired. It's the NBA. You can't really go easy on anybody. They're athletes, too. They compete, they play hard, too. It's important that we learn from this."

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy didn’t go as easy on his team:

"We brought no defensive mentality, played no defense in the first half. It's a broken record. ... An awful effort tonight. I applaud them, they played well, but an awful effort on our part."

The Magic played their second game without All Star point guard, who is most likely done for the season after suffering a torn labrum after dislocating his right shoulder.  With Anthony Johnson the only healthy point guard on the roster, the team traded veteran shooting guard Keith Bogans to Milwaukee for well traveled Tyronn Lue.  The Bucks likely got the better of the deal, but with a logjam at the shooting guard position and a desperate need for another pointguard Orlando really had no option.  Lue will join the team for Sunday’s game against the New Jersey Nets.

After Sunday’s home contest against New Jersey, Orlando will have a fairly light schedule heading into the All Star Break with the Denver Nuggets coming to town on Wednesday and the Charlotte Bobcats playing at Amway Arena on Tuesday, February 17th.  Despite a poor record, Indiana is only 3 ½ games out of the final playoff spot in the top heavy Eastern Conference.  They’ve got three games prior to the All Star Break, playing at Washington on Sunday before hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James on Tuesday.  They’ll play in Milwaukee on Wednesday and will then be off until after the break.