Magic aim to continue recent hot hand vs. Pacers

The Orlando Magic hope to demonstrate they've turned the corner in their rivalry with Indiana when they host the Pacers on Sunday night.

The Pacers enjoyed their annual winter vacations in Central Florida for five years, winning eight straight at Orlando until the Magic finally got the upper hand in a 107-100 win last January.

Orlando went on to sweep a pair at Indiana to capture the season series and has a three-game winning streak against its former nemesis.

Both teams must feel good about their current form.

Indiana has won two straight and five of six overall, including 112-106 at home over Detroit on Friday night.

With Myles Turner and Jeremy Lamb nursing ankle injuries, the Pacers got much needed contributions from replacement starters JaKarr Sampson and Aaron Holiday in the win.

Sampson, making his fourth start of the season, dueled Andre Drummond and managed to put up 10 points. Holiday, in his second start, chipped in with six points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Holiday got the call instead of T.J. McConnell, who led a productive bench crew with 17 points.

"T.J. has been playing the backup minutes at the point," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said of keeping McConnell on the bench. "With Lamb being out, I wanted to put another ball-handler, another guy who could create some offense."

Turner appears to be close to returning from his five-game absence. He has yet to be ruled out of the Orlando game.

The Pacers are just 1-3 on the road, but those losses were by a total of 15 points, including one in overtime.

The Magic, meanwhile, seem to have gotten their offense in gear. They were held under 100 points in each of their first seven games, but then went for 106 in a loss to Dallas on Wednesday before finally firing on all cylinders two nights later in a 118-86 home blowout of Memphis.

Orlando shot 47.3 percent in the game and got 17 or more points from four starters.

"We had more easy baskets and that's why we scored (more efficiently)," said Evan Fournier, who totaled 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

"We've been saying that the offense hasn't been good, but it's been because we don't get enough good shots. Tonight, we were able to create a lot of good shots and that was the key."

All three Magic wins have come at home this season, sandwiching a pair of losses to heavyweights Milwaukee and Denver.

Before the club can worry about its road woes, Fournier insisted, it has to take care of business on a five-game homestand that got off on a winning note against Memphis.

"Once we go on the road again, it will get harder," he said. "We have to take advantage of this stretch to build confidence, build habits and find ourselves."

The Magic averaged 115 points in their three wins over Indiana last season.

Without Turner protecting the hoop, the Pacers have allowed an average of 110.7 points in their past three games.

--Field Level Media