Post-Game Grades: Zombie Indiana Pacers Get Head Shot Off By Orlando Magic

The Indiana Pacers needed a win to help lock in a playoff spot. Instead they lost to the Orlando Magic.

The Good: Is this a serious question?

The Bad: Allowing the Magic to shoot 53.3% — thanks to making 73% of their shots around the rim — is never a good thing. Backdoor cuts killed Indiana and uncontested lobs seemed to come often, which helped them be so damn effective as 56 of their points came in the paint for the Magic.

It didn’t help that the Pacers shot 41.9% from the field (but a respectable 36.8% from 3-point range thanks to C.J. Miles and George Hill) on  a night where they didn’t look engaged, something Quinn Buckner noted in the early minutes of the game. That premonition was 100% accurate.

It is easy to say things like they lacked aggressiveness and heart, which usually are just filler words for a lack of a coherent thought, but tonight the Pacers certainly didn’t look to really be invested in the outcome of the game. There was a push in the 3rd quarter to close the gap, but clearly that wasn’t enough as Indiana still lost by 20 points. George Hill looked to be giving it his all in the 3rd quarter, but it wasn’t something he or any of the Pacers could sustain.

The are plenty of fun quotes in Candace Buckner’s post-game write up for the Indy Star, including this one from Miles.

"“We don’t look like a team that don’t want to go home early and have a long summer,” Miles said. “So I mean, our biggest thing is to figure out how we can knuckle it up, man.”"

Maybe this is a stealth tank job to get a struggling Indiana Pacers team into the lottery, but it was ugly, to say the least.

More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds

• 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
• Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
• 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
• 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
• Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?

A loss like this is depressing for many reasons, one being it keeps the Chicago Bulls as a credible threat to overtake the Pacers if they fall into the 8th seed. At this point it more of a question of what has more value to Indiana going forward: Getting playoff experience for everyone, including rookie Myles Turner, or getting into the lottery and hopefully making the right pick early to midway through the first round.

MVP: Evan Fournier, or anyone not in an Indiana Pacers jersey.

LVP: Pick a Pacer, any Pacer.

X-Factor: Actually, credit to Lavoy Allen and his 12 point, 11 rebound double-double. His play was one of the exceptionally good things from the Pacers on Thursday night.

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1 of 5 shooting for 2 points to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists. I bet starting him over George Hill would fix everything, wouldn’t it?