Beede’s Breakdown: Magic drop 5th in a row as Pacers end 16-game losing streak
With less than a month remaining in the NBA regular season, it’s not uncommon for team’s fighting for playoff positioning to face off against teams battling instead for a better draft spot. Such was the case Monday night at Kia Center when the Magic hosted the Pacers , a team that had lost more games in the past month (16 in a row since the All-Star break) than it had won the entire season (15 total entering the contest). But Orlando , on its own four-game losing streak, had no room for error facing Indiana on the first night of a back-to-back.
Jamahl Mosley ‘s squad, however, lacked precision and energy throughout much of the night on both ends of the floor and its comeback fell short in the end when the Pacers escaped Central Florida on top, 128-126, in a high-scoring affair that featured seven lead changes. After the Magic trailed by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter, Paolo Banchero’s pair of free throws with 28. 9 seconds left brought Orlando within two points of the Pacers.
Orlando then won a jump ball with 6. 4 seconds left and called timeout. Banchero, who scored 39 points, however, missed a layup out of a timeout on the final play of the game.
The Pacers were led by two-time All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam, who finished with 37 points. Earning its first win since Feb. 11, Indiana (16-56) scored 44 points in the third quarter to lead by eight points entering the fourth.
Dropping their past five, the Magic (38-33) travel to Cleveland for the second game of a back-to-back Tuesday night on NBC. Starting 5 Veteran guard Jevon Carter got the nod to start in place of Jalen Suggs, who was ruled out earlier in the day due to an illness. Making his first start in a Magic uniform since he joined the time last month, Carter opened alongside Banchero, Desmond Bane, Tristan da Silva and Wendell Carter Jr.
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