The Orlando Magic struggled to corral the Indiana Pacers until their bench unit slowed them down enough for the team to race ahead and score a big win.
The offense came suspiciously easy for the Orlando Magic throughout their game against the Indiana Pacers. The team’s energy was up on that end and the ball was moving around the perimeter and into the paint.
Nothing would matter if the team could not get a stop. That is always the case for the Magic. Their defense is their barometer. The offense is not something they can wholly rely on. At least not on its own.
Throughout the third quarter, it looked like the Pacers were about to pull away. They opened an eight-point lead as they continued to drive the lane and draw fouls. Their parade of and-1s throughout the quarter seemed to kill the Magic’s momentum.
But Orlando would get a deflection and a turnover to feed them back into the game. It would take a focused defensive effort to get them back.
The end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter, they slowly started to get that from their second unit.
Wesley Iwundu dug in for a steal or a deflection or just a simple stop. Khem Birch stepped up on the pick and roll and started stonewalling players at the basket. Michael Carter-Williams flew around and deflected passes and blocked shots.
The Magic started to lock down the paint and get nasty. The Magic needed the final push offensive to get over the top.
In stepped Aaron Gordon.
It was not the high-flying Aaron Gordon efforts that have made him a household name. But rather it was control and patience. He gave Orlando a lead with a patient drive past Thaddeus Young for a two-handed jam, beating him off the dribble.
He put the icing on the cake with two minutes left, catching the ball in the corner, pump faking his man past him and sidestepping over for a three. He drained it and the Pacers’ desperate attempts to cut back into the league were constantly thwarted in a 121-116 win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday.
It was probably not completely the effort the Magic wanted. But they simply found a way. Their offense keeping pace until their defense put in the strong effort the team needed in the third and fourth quarters.
And that is enough to keep pace with five games left in the regular season.
The Orlando Magic finish their four-game road trip against the Toronto Raptors on Monday. They have five games remaining.
With the Miami Heat’s win over the New York Knicks, the Orlando Magic remain one-half game out of the final playoff spot. With five Heat wins or five Magic losses, the Magic will be eliminated from the playoffs.
With the win, the Magic have been eliminated from receiving the seventh-, eighth- and ninth-best odds to win the NBA Draft Lottery. With three more Orlando Magic wins or three more Minnesota Timberwolves losses, the Magic will be eliminated from receiving the 10th-best odds to win the NBA Draft Lottery.