The Orlando Magic had every opportunity to win the game and just could not put together a strong enough performance to finish it out. The Indiana Pacers won.
The Orlando Magic had a lot of things going their way in their 105-102 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. They were forcing turnovers and finding opportunities in transition. They got the ball moving decently well offensively. And, most importantly, they were largely able to dig in and get stops.
Again, it was a weird line score. The Magic played with effort and energy, but they left a lot on the board.
Orlando went to the locker room tied after forcing 17 turnovers, tying a franchise record. They felt like they could be up more. But that was not the worst of the opportunities they left on the board.
The Magic missed six of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter, including a critical split from Nikola Vucevic with the team trailing by two points and 30 seconds to play.
Orlando got a stop and set up their final possession. Victor Oladipo received the ball on the wind, pump faked to get Monta Ellis in the air. He opted to try to lean in and draw a foul instead of driving to the basket and take the lead with a two. That decision will be second guessed for a while.