Pacers 97, Magic 84
INDIANAPOLIS -- Forward Paul George scored 27 points, guard George Hill added 23, and the Indiana Pacers dominated the final 6 1/2 minutes Monday night in a 97-84 victory over the Orlando Magic in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Indiana (4-4) won for the fourth time in five games after an 0-3 start. The Pacers beat the Magic for the fifth consecutive meeting.
The Pacers trailed 81-78, but during the final 6:27, they outscored the Magic 19-3, picking up the defensive pressure.
Orlando (3-5) got 21 points from forward Evan Fournier and 15 from guard Victor Oladipo. The Magic shot only 4-for-14 from the field in the final quarter while committing eight turnovers in that span.
George's 3-pointer with 5:41 remaining gave Indiana an 83-81 lead. It was his first field goal of the second half. A 3-pointer by forward Chase Budinger, a Hill layup and two George free throws with 4:10 left pushed the Pacers' lead to 90-81.
Orlando pulled even at 78 with 7:50 remaining on a 3-pointer from Fournier as the result of the Pacers' 17th turnover. Guard C.J. Watson's bucket 22 seconds earlier pulled the Magic within 78-75.
The Pacers scored the third quarter's final six points to erase a 71-66 deficit and lead 72-71 on a pair of free throws from Myles Turner. The forward made the fourth quarter's first basket for a 74-71 Indiana lead.
Indiana led 49-48 through two quarters, getting 19 from George during the first period and 11 from Hill in the second.
Guard Elfrid Payton had 11 opening-half points for the Magic, and Fournier and Oladipo each contributed nine.
Indiana, which shot 45.2 percent through two quarters (19 of 42), led by as many as seven in the first half. George and Hill were a combined 10 of 15. The rest of the roster was a collective 9 of 27 (33.3 percent).
Orlando, which led by as many as three in the opening half, shot 41.9 percent (18 of 43).
For the game, Indiana outshot Orlando 44.2 percent to 39.7 percent.
NOTES: Magic C Nikola Vucevic (15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds) was out with a sprained right knee. ... The Pacers welcomed the return of G/F C.J. Miles (sore right ankle) and G Rodney Stuckey (sprained right ankle). Miles moved back into the starting lineup. ... With three made 3-pointers Monday, Indiana F Paul George passed Billy Keller for third place on the Pacers' all-time list of 3-pointers made at 509. Keller had 506. ... Orlando entered Monday ranked fourth in the NBA in opponents' field-goal percentage (41 percent) and fourth in blocks per game (6.7). ... Indiana ranked seventh in steals at nine per game before Monday. ... The Pacers swept last season's three-game series with Orlando, winning by an average of 14.8 points.