This was not how the Orlando Magic envisioned starting their six-game road trip.
The Indiana Pacers dominated the boards Friday night and forced 18 turnovers in their first game all season with forward David West, who had sprained his right ankle during the preseason. While the Pacers didn't shoot particularly well except for West and guard Rodney Stuckey, they had more than enough to hand the Magic a 98-83 defeat.
It was the Magic's fourth loss in a row and their fourth consecutive game of being held under 100 points. Evan Fournier, who had been averaging 16.1 points, managed only five on 2-of-10 shooting. While Nikola Vucevic led them with 16 points, his streak of seven double-doubles came to an end as he was limited to seven rebounds.
Even with center Roy Hibbert missing his third game in a row with a sprained left ankle, the Pacers outrebounded the Magic 53-32. The only two offensive rebounds by the Magic came during a 11-2 run to end the second quarter that cut their halftime deficit to 47-45.
Channing Frye knocked down three 3-point shots in the first half but picked up three fouls in the opening 2:21 of the third quarter and was no factor the rest of the way. Tobias Harris was also in foul trouble but ended up scoring 10 of his 14 points in the final two quarters.
As was the case in a loss Monday night at Cleveland, the Magic finished with more turnovers than assists, which is never a good sign.
Lavoy Allen, who was once teammates with Vucevic on the Philadelphia 76ers, gave the Pacers a lift off the bench with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Six of his rebounds came on the offensive end.
THE TURNING POINT
The Magic managed just one field goal during a six-minute stretch of the third quarter as the Pacers extended their lead from six points to 15.
THE DIFFERENCE MAKER
Stuckey scored a season-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
STAT OF THE GAME
Halfway through the second quarter, the Pacers had more offensive rebounds (13) than the Magic had total rebounds (12).
WHAT'S NEXT
Sunday night at Phoenix, 8 p.m.
You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.
