National Basketball Association
Orlando 121, Indiana 116
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 30, 2019
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: #11 Derrick Collins, #54 Ray Acosta, #60 James Williams
Attendance: 17923

Khem Birch gave Orlando the lead for good with a dunk in the second minute of the fourth quarter and the visiting Magic outplayed Indiana down the stretch of an important game for both teams, beating the Pacers 121-116 Saturday night.

A seventh win in their past eight games allowed the Magic (38-39) to move within one game of .500 in a tightly bunched group of five teams vying for the final three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

Meanwhile, the Pacers (45-32) lost for the seventh time in eight games, delaying their bid to finish ahead of the Boston Celtics for the No. 4 seed in the East.

Neither team led by more than nine points before a fourth quarter that began with five lead changes, the fifth of which was produced by Birch's dunk that created a 97-96 Orlando advantage.

Aaron Gordon had two baskets, including a 3-pointer, and Terrence Ross made a 3 of his own in an eight-point run shortly thereafter that allowed the Magic to put some distance between themselves and the Pacers at 107-98 with 6:50 to go.

Indiana got as close as 117-113 on a 3-pointer by Wesley Matthews with 20.1 seconds remaining, but Nikola Vucevic and Jonathan Isaac iced the win when they each made two free throws.

Gordon led the Magic with 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, with more than half his points coming on four 3-pointers.

Orlando won the game from beyond the arc, making 15 of 38, compared to the Pacers' 9 of 24.

Indiana outshot the visitors, 52.7 percent to 51.1 overall.

D.J. Augustin (11 points, 10 assists) also recorded a double-double for Orlando, which has gone 2-1 on a four-game trip that ends Monday night at Toronto.

Vucevic had 19 points, Ross 16, Isaac 14 and Birch and Michael Carter-Williams 10 apiece for Orlando, which won three of four from Indiana in the season series.

Myles Turner notched a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Pacers, who had a four-game home winning streak snapped.

Darren Collison led Indiana with 24 points to go with nine assists, and Bojan Bogdanovic had 22 points, while Matthews totaled 13 points and Thaddeus Young, Domantas Sabonis and Doug McDermott 10 apiece.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Orlando   Indiana
Aaron Gordon 23 Scoring Darren Collison 24
D.J. Augustin 10 Assists Darren Collison 9
Aaron Gordon 10 Rebounds Myles Turner 12
Jonathan Isaac 3 Free Throws Made Myles Turner 3
Khem Birch 2 Steals Darren Collison 1
Michael Carter-Williams 2 Blocks Cory Joseph 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Orlando 121 51.1 15-38 12-14 37 37 3 9 7
Indiana 116 53.3 9-24 11-17 26 44 3 4 15
Upcoming Games
  • Indiana will play their next game at home against Detroit. The Pacers have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .562 after a loss.
  • Orlando will play their next game on the road against Toronto. The Magic have a W/L % of .514 after a win and .475 after a loss.