Magic at Pacers
THE STORY: The Orlando Magic experienced one of the worst games in
the franchise’s 23-year history Monday and will attempt to rebound
against the red-hot Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. Orlando set a club record
for fewest points in the 87-56 loss to the Boston Celtics and also
committed a season-worst 25 turnovers while shooting 24.6 percent.
Orlando’s previous low was 57 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers
during the 1996-97 season. Indiana is off to its best start since a 14-2
run to begin the 2003-04 campaign despite playing two-thirds of its 15
games on the road. The Pacers are 5-0 at home and have the second-best
overall record in the Eastern Conference while focusing on playing a
team-oriented style. “We have a lot of guys that can put the ball in the
hoop and it shows who we are as a team,” point guard Darren Collison
said. “Everybody’s unselfish. Nobody cares who’s the leading scorer and
we’re going to continue to play that way.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Orlando), FS Indiana
ABOUT THE MAGIC (11-5): Center Dwight Howard had 18 points and 14
rebounds against the Celtics and is on the verge of becoming Orlando’s
all-time leading scorer. Howard is eight points away from surpassing
Nick Anderson, who had 10,650 career points for the Magic from 1989-99.
Howard will be playing in his 584th game for the franchise while
Anderson, a shooting guard, played in 692 games for Orlando. Howard is
averaging 20.1 points and 16.0 rebounds this season.
ABOUT THE PACERS (11-4):
Center Roy Hibbert put on an amazing show of toughness by playing with a
broken nose during Sunday’s victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hibbert broke his nose in the opening quarter and ignored advice to sit
out the rest of the game. He scored 16 of his 18 points in the second
half while making 8 of 9 shots. “They didn’t want me to come back out,
but I told them I’m going to no matter what,” Hibbert said. “So if I got
hit again, that’s fine. I could always get cosmetic surgery at the end
of the season to fix it.”
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Orlando has won five consecutive contests against Indiana and 11 of the last 13.
2. Howard is averaging 18.0 points and 12.3 rebounds in 25 career games against the Pacers.
3. The Pacers are 8-0 this season when outrebounding opponents and have grabbed 50 or more boards five times.