Magic at Pacers
THE STORY: The Orlando Magic pulled off a stunning victory in the series opener and look for a second consecutive road win when they play the Indiana Pacers on Monday. Sixth-seeded Orlando scored the game’s final 11 points while rallying for an 81-77 victory. Jason Richardson’s fifth 3-pointer of the contest represented the go-ahead shot. Third-seeded Indiana now faces the possibility of going down 2-0 despite Orlando being without Dwight Howard for the playoffs.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBATV
ABOUT THE MAGIC: There were a lot of naysayers about Orlando’s chances of winning this series and it didn’t take long for the Magic to point that out after winning the opener. Glen Davis, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds, was particularly vocal. “It is huge to go out there and get Game 1 in their place,” Davis said. “How their back’s against the wall and they’ve got to win Game 2. We’re trying to get every game we can. We’re not trying to slow down. We’re not trying to be complacent.” Richardson made five of Orlando’s nine 3-pointers and had 17 points along with Jameer Nelson.
ABOUT THE PACERS: Indiana shot just 34.5 percent in Game 1. The Pacers missed their final nine shots and went scoreless over the final 4:05. Forward David West scored a game-high 19 points and center Roy Hibbert blocked a career-high nine shots, one off the playoff record shared by Utah’s Mark Eaton (1985) and Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon (1990). Giving up home-court advantage was a disheartening development for the Pacers, who had played very well down the stretch. “In one game, you give up what you played all season for,” West said. “We talked about how good this team was, how dangerous they were in shooting the ball. They got us.”
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The teams combined for only 63 second-half points in Game 1.
2. Pacers leading scorer Danny Granger scored 17 points in the opener, but was just 7-of-20 shooting and committed five turnovers.
3. Richardson connected on five or more 3-pointers three times in the regular season.