Orlando Magic Grades: Indiana Pacers 105, Orlando Magic 102
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.
100. Final. 102. 38. 105
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.
SG. Orlando Magic. VICTOR OLADIPO. B-. <p>Victor Oladipo is probably going to get endless criticism for his decisions late in the game, and some of it is warranted. Oladipo opted to go for drawing a foul after pumpfaking Monta Ellis out of his shoes rather than taking the space and driving or firing away after Ellis passed him. Oladipo said after the game, maybe he learned not to leave it in the officials’ hands.</p><p>To that point though, Oladipo was decent offensively. He scored 17 points on 6-for-17 shooting, missing all five of his 3-pointers. His shot selection was not great, often pulling up around the elbow area to shoot. But he was making it relatively well.</p><p>Oladipo was pretty good defensively too, as he always is. He did a decent job making Monta Ellis take difficult shots and was good on weakside defense, as he always seems to be. This is what he does successfully and what makes him valuable. Oladipo got things going well for the Magic and had eight assists and seven rebounds to show his contribution in multiple areas for this team.</p>
C+. <p>Nikola Vucevic puts up good offensive numbers and had some good moments, but fans are going to remember the free throws he split that very well could have cost the Orlando Magic the game.</p><p>Vucevic scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, his typical kind of stat line. But he went three for six from the foul line. Those three free throws, especially the one with 30 seconds left, stung. Really stung.</p><p>Vucevic’s defense also continues to be an issue. He was having to step up and stop <strong><a href=. C. Orlando Magic. NIKOLA VUCEVIC
B+. <p><strong><a href=. SF. Orlando Magic. EVAN FOURNIER
C+. <p><strong><a href=. G. Orlando Magic. BRANDON JENNINGS
C. <p>This was a game the Indiana Pacers probably should not have won. They turned the ball over 21 times for 20 Orlando points. They got into the penalty early in the fourth quarter. They were extremely sloppy.</p><p>Paul George and Monta Ellis got their points. Ellis had 21 points on 8-for-17 shooting. <strong><a href=. 30-25. 5th, East. INDIANA PACERS