Magic fight back to beat Pacers, win 4th in a row

ORLANDO, Fla. — Finding a way to win on the second night of a back-to-back is already a challenging task.

Doing so in the third meeting against the same team in the first 13 games of the season only makes it harder given the familiarity between the sides.

But the Magic, without Paolo Banchero (torn right abdominal muscle) and Wendell Carter Jr. (left foot plantar fasciitis), did just that against the Pacers on Wednesday night at Kia Center.

Less than 24 hours after a 25-point beatdown of the Hornets, Orlando came back from a 12-point first-half deficit to improve to 6-0 at home with a hard-fought 94-90 victory over the Pacers (5-6).

It’s a decisive win for the Magic, who now lead the regular-season series 2-1 over Indiana. The East foes meet a fourth time but not until the second-to-last matchup of the year in April.

Winners of four straight, the Magic (7-6) host 76ers on Friday as part of East Group A action for the NBA Cup. The 76ers are expected to have Paul George and Joel Embiid for Friday’s contest after the star duo sat Wednesday vs. Cleveland due to injury management.

Wagner and friends

It’s no secret the Magic have relied heavily on Franz Wagner since Banchero suffered a torn right abdominal muscle at Chicago on Oct. 30.

And Wednesday night was no different.

Wagner totaled 27 of his 29 points by the end of the third quarter and only one other starter (Goa Bitadze) had reached double figures by then.

But Wagner, who notched his sixth straight contest with 20-plus points, only had two in the fourth frame.

He had help from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (10 points), Goga Bitadze (12 points) and Jalen Suggs (8 points), the latter of whom hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to put Orlando ahead for good.

The Magic outscored the Pacers 26-18 in the fourth quarter after trailing by four at the break.

Too many turnovers

The Magic found themselves trailing by double-digits early because they couldn’t take care of the basketball.

In the first half alone, Indiana scored 16 points off 12 Orlando turnovers. The Magic did a better job in the third frame only committing two turnovers in the frame but still finished with 17.

Bitadze, who recorded a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) was responsible for three turnovers while Suggs had four, Moe Wagner committed five and Anthony Black finished with two.

Rookie watch

In his seventh straight, Tristan da Silva was active early distributing the ball and crashing the boards.

The rookie grabbed four of his nine total rebounds on the offensive glass and added three assists. The No. 18 pick, however, shot 1 of 6 for just 3 points in 21 minutes.