For a team trying to make the playoffs, the Indiana Pacers did little to help their own cause in an 114-94 loss to the Orlando Magic.
The Pacers looked lifeless for most of the matchup on Thursday night — save for a stretch in the 3rd quarter — and slipped to within a game of bouncing out of the playoff hunt. The Chicago Bulls are only a game behind the Pacers while the Detroit Pistons are a full game ahead of Indiana now.
The loss might be the last straw for fans that hoped somehow, someway, Indiana was going to finally get its acted together before the regular season’s end. Playoffs or not, the Pacers have shown their limited ceiling for this season.
To give a little more perspective to how disappointing this loss is for Indiana, consider that Orlando is a full 7 games behind the Pacers in the standings and had nothing to play for.
NBA Eastern Conference Standings | PointAfter
The Magic played like a team with something to play for while the Pacers looked ready for the summer to begin. With the exception a few stretches for George Hill, Indiana let two decent bench performances from C.J. Miles and Lavoy Allen go to waste. Allen had 12 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, his 4th of the season.
Paul George and Monta Ellis had respectable games with 27 and 13 points, respectively, but along with Allen, they were the only three Pacers players to score in double-digits.
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Myles Turner had 8 points and 8 rebounds, which ain’t bad, but he’s been looking more and more frustrated as Indiana’s opponents have begun to figure out how to defend the 20-year-old. His quick release caught team’s off guard earlier this season as until the end of February 14.1% of his shots came within the first six seconds of the shot clock, often with less than two dribbles.
However since March began only 7% of his shots have been taken that quickly, and now 8% of the time he’s dribbled it two times or more. He’s a rookie, and a young one at that, so it is to be expected that he’s going to have a limited bag of tricks, but going forward he’ll have to supplement his arsenal of shots with more than just speed.
Pacers Most Recent Shooting Performance | PointAfter
Indiana’s offense was stagnant for long stretches while Orlando kept pounding the paint to the tune of 56 points there. While the Pacers settled for jumper after jumper, the Magic made up for poor 3-point shooting by attacking the rim.
Data curated by PointAfter
With 7 games left and a favorable schedule the Pacers have no excuse for missing the playoffs. However, if the have another few games like this the post season will come sooner than expected.
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The Pacers have Friday off and will head east to face the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. If the Pacers lose that game — and at this point that’s a question — then they might as well give up and forfeit the rest of the season.