Pacers at Magic
The Indiana Pacers are trying to lock up a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and are finally beginning to build some positive momentum. The Pacers will try to avoid falling out of the No. 8 spot when they visit the lottery-bound Orlando Magic on Saturday.
The Pacers briefly slipped out of the top eight before turning things around this week with home wins over the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks, which marked the team's first back-to-back wins since early February. "These past couple of games we've tightened up on the defensive end," Indiana All-Star forward Paul George told reporters. "We made the game a lot easier for ourselves by creating offense off of our defense." The Magic snapped a five-game slide with a 115-107 win over the NBA-worst Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday but sit tied with the Philadelphia 76ers for the fourth-worst record in the NBA. "Coming into it, as we approached this last month or so and we kind of knew that we were out of it, I thought it was going to be difficult," Orlando coach Frank Vogel told reporters. "To our guys' credit, it hasn't been. It's actually been a healthy, pure attitude toward these games, toward improvement and development and trying to build something habit-wise toward next year."
TV: 6 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE PACERS (39-40): Indiana got a boost in the last two games from the return of Lance Stephenson, who energized the home crowd and is proving to be a key member of the rotation off the bench. The mercurial swingman, who was a part of Pacers' teams that went to the conference finals in 2013 and 2014, is combining with Aaron Brooks to form a potent backcourt on the second unit. "With Lance and Aaron Brooks in the game together, we have the versatility to move them from point to wing," Indiana coach Nate McMillan told reporters. "Aaron is a good three-point shooter and with Lance at the point, that gives us another option on the wing."
ABOUT THE MAGIC (28-51): The end of Orlando's season has been about building chemistry heading into the summer and next season, and young stars Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton are developing a strong connection. "It's something that is growing with us and we want it to keep growing through the summer," Payton told the team's website of the chemistry he has with Gordon. "We're definitely trying to make an imprint and establish a way that we’re going to play. We’re finding an identity and we’ve got to just continue to get that defensive identity down." Payton and Gordon combined for 43 points on 17-of-29 shooting in Thursday's win over Brooklyn.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers PF Thaddeus Young recorded a double-double in two straight and three of the last five contests.
2. Orlando SG Evan Fournier (wrist) sat out Thursday and is day-to-day.
3. Indiana took the first three meetings this season by an average of 14 points.