Turner powers Pacers past Magic
INDIANAPOLIS -- Myles Turner scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 117-104 victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Indiana (17-18) has won 13 of the past 15 regular season meetings with Orlando (15-20).
Turner sank 7 of 13 field goals and 8 of 9 free throws. Paul George added 19 points for the Pacers, hitting 3 of 5 3-pointers. Jeff Teague contributed 12 points and nine assists for Indiana.
Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 18 points. Jeff Green and Serge Ibaka each added 17 points.
Indiana forward Thaddeus Young had 10 points, scoring in double figures for his eighth consecutive game. Aaron Brooks finished with 14 points off the bench for Indiana. Al Jefferson scored 12 points off the bench for Indiana.
The Pacers expanded their 11-point halftime lead to 16 at 89-73 after three quarters.
The Magic opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to close the deficit to 89-80 with 10:16 left in the fourth quarter. Indiana answered with a 12-2 spurt to regain control at 101-82. Monta Ellis scored four points during that stretch.
Brooks sank a 3 at the buzzer to give the Pacers a 62-51 lead at halftime. Indiana shot 50 percent (23 of 46) in the first half while Orlando hit 43.8 percent of its shots (21 of 48). Indiana's largest lead of the first half was 14 points.
The Pacers hit 6 of 13 baskets from 3-point range before intermission. The Magic struggled to the tune of 3 of 15 shooting on 3s in the half.
Turner led the Pacers with 14 points in the first half. George added 13 points.
The Pacers led 27-17 after one quarter. After Vucevic's layup narrowed Indiana's lead to 18-17, the Pacers finished the quarter on a 9-0 run.
NOTES: Orlando coach Frank Vogel coached Indiana from 2010-16, leading the team to two Eastern Conference finals. The Pacers topped the Magic 88-69 on Nov. 14 in Vogel's first game as a visiting head coach at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. ... Magic G Evan Fournier, who is averaging a team-high 17.8 points, missed his fourth consecutive game with a right heel contusion. ... Orlando Gs D.J. Augustin, C.J. Watson and F Damjan Rudez are all former Indiana players. ... Entering the game, the Pacers were No. 2 in the NBA in team free throw percentage at 81.2 percent. The best free throw percentage in team history was 81.6 in the 1989-90 season. ... Prior to the game, Indiana C Myles Turner had scored in double figures in 13 straight games with five 20-point plus performances during that span. ... Orlando F Serge Ibaka led the Magic in scoring eight times in the first 34 games of the season. During seven seasons with Oklahoma City, Ibaka led or tied for the team lead in scoring ten times.