{"id":105614,"date":"2026-01-04T23:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T23:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/105614\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T23:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T23:02:09","slug":"orlando-magic-overpower-pacers-in-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/105614\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic overpower Pacers in win"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Magic escaped Indiana<\/a> last Wednesday on the road, Orlando needed a layup from Paolo Banchero with 7.5 seconds left in the contest to finish on top of the Pacers<\/a> with a 2-point win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Late-game heroics were needed once again game when the sides met at Kia Center for a Sunday matinee.<\/p>\n

Desmond Bane (31 points), Paolo Banchero (28) and Anthony Black (27) combined for 86 when Orlando outlasted Indiana, 135-127, in a high-scoring affair that saw both sides lead by as many as 12 points.<\/p>\n

With the Magic leading by 3 points with 1:10 left in the game, Tristan da Silva (10) drilled a 3-pointer to put Orlando ahead by six and Wendell Carter Jr. (18) flushed down a drive to extend its lead to eight with 17.6 seconds left.<\/p>\n

Jamahl Mosley\u2019s squad turned defense into offense when it scored 18 points off 11 Indiana turnovers while finishing with a 60-50 advantage in the paint.<\/p>\n

Although Pascal Siakam notched 34 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 37 minutes, the loss was the 12th in a row for Indiana (6-30).<\/p>\n

The Magic (20-16) aren\u2019t home long when they head to Washington on Tuesday and travel to Brooklyn the next night.<\/p>\n

Starting 5<\/p>\n

Black returned to the starting lineup after Jalen Suggs<\/a> suffered a right knee Grade 1 MCL contusion Friday at Chicago, and the third-year guard boosted Orlando\u2019s offense early.<\/p>\n

In the first quarter alone, Black scored 13 points by hitting from 3-point range (2 for 4) and getting to the free throw line (5 for 5) when he ended with 20-plus for the 11th time this season.<\/p>\n

He started alongside Bane, Banchero, Tristan da Silva and Wendell Carter Jr. against the Pacers.<\/p>\n

Bane and Banchero got in on the action during the second quarter when they both had 11 points at the break after each scoring nine in the second frame.<\/p>\n

Bane shot the ball well when he knocked two 3-pointers in the third quarter while recording six rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes. Sunday\u2019s game marked the fifth Bane has scored 30-plus points this season.<\/p>\n

Carter notched his sixth double-double of the season when he added 12 rebounds in 31 minutes. Banchero added 12 rebounds for his team-leading ninth double-double.<\/p>\n

Second-quarter swing<\/p>\n

The Magic trailed by 12 points early in the second frame before they went on a 17-0 run to outscore Indiana 41-22 in the quarter.<\/p>\n

Orlando shot 72.2% from the floor and 11 for 14 at the free throw line in the second quarter while it held the Pacers to 30.4% shooting and only gave up 3 free throws.<\/p>\n

It marked the sixth time this season the Magic have scored 40-plus points in a quarter.<\/p>\n

Rookie watch<\/p>\n

First-round pick Jase Richardson entered halfway through the first quarter and was a big reason for Orlando\u2019s scoring surge in the second frame.<\/p>\n

The No. 25 pick scored all seven of his first-half points in the second quarter by hitting all three of his shots from floor, including a corner triple near the end of the shot clock, during the frame.<\/p>\n

He drained his second triple late in the third quarter when he ended with 12 points and four assists in 27 minutes.<\/p>\n

Banchero meets Bonta<\/p>\n

Prior to Sunday\u2019s game, Banchero met with Blake Bonta, a 12-year-old from Iowa who\u2019s been battling brain cancer since January 2023.<\/p>\n

Bonta, who is now in the recovery stage, has helped raised over $100,000 for pediatric brain cancer research while going through treatments.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust want to wish you the best,\u201d Banchero said in a video message sent to Bonta when he invited him to the game. \u201cStay strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the Magic escaped Indiana last Wednesday on the road, Orlando needed a layup from Paolo Banchero with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2295,139,141,1239,140,109,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-105614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-orlando","11":"tag-orlando-headlines","12":"tag-orlando-magic","13":"tag-orlando-news","14":"tag-social","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}