April 14th, 2011 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in
Orlando Magic forward/center Ryan Anderson (33) takes a shot between Indiana Pacers guard Brandon Rush (#25) and forward Josh McRoberts (#32).
If the Indiana Pacers are to going to realize any resemblance of success in the Eastern Conference playoffs, they will have to turn in a better showing than the one they phoned in Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic.
The Magic, despite reducing the minutes of their regular players for their last game of the regular season, clamped down on defense, holding the Pacers to a frigid 31 percent shooting night and cruising to the easy 92-74 win at Amway Center.
Orlando’s lead was by as many as 17 in the first half before Indiana trimmed it to 33-26 in the opening minutes of the second quarter. But the Pacers’ momentum sputtered after Roy Hibbert was whistled for his fifth foul at the 4:25 mark of the half. The Magic took full advantage of the paint and and closed the period with a 20-3 explosion to lead 52-29 at the intermission.
Indiana did manage to cut into Orlando’s lead a bit, but never mounted much of a challenge for the remainder of the game.
Ryan Anderson led the Magic with 14 points (including three 3-pointers), along with 7 rebounds, a steal and a block while Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard each added 13 – with Turkoglu grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing out 3 assists while Howard grabbed 13 boards, dished out 2 assists, with 4 steals and a block.
The Pacers had just two players score in double-digits, led by Mike Dunleavy and Brandon Rush with 16 points apiece – with Dunleavy grabbing 5 rebounds while Rush made five 3-pointers, grabbed a rebound along with 2 steals.
Both teams begin their playoff push on Saturday night as Orlando (52-30) hosts the Atlanta Hawks while Indiana (37-45) travels to Chicago to take on the Bulls.
Tags: 
