Positives have been rare for the Orlando Magic this season, although the potential for one exists in their next outing.
Orlando will bid for its first three-game winning streak of the season Wednesday night when the Magic host the Indiana Pacers.
What’s more, the last-in-the-NBA Magic will try to complete a three-game season sweep of the Pacers when the teams conclude a pair of matchups in Orlando, Fla.
Monday night, Wendell Carter Jr. collected 21 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Magic to a 119-103 victory. The double-double was the fifth in a row for Carter, who had 19 points and 18 rebounds in Orlando’s 119-118 win in Indianapolis on Feb. 2.
The Magic tied a franchise record Monday as eight players scored in double digits. Most notably, former top overall pick Markelle Fultz had 10 points in his first game since tearing his left ACL nearly 14 months ago.
“Just a huge night,” said Fultz, who also had six assists in his 16 minutes of action. “A long time coming for myself and my teammates. The fight every day to get to where we are today, for me to be back on the court with these guys who have been competing hard all year long.
“To be able to go out there and get a W my first game back, and help this team get a W, it meant the world to me.”
The return of Fultz meant a lot to his teammates as well.
“The stuff I’ve seen him do in the past, when he was healthy, I was excited just to be on the court with him,” Carter said. “This was a special one for me and a special one for him. When he gets his legs underneath him a little more, this team is going to be a whole lot better.”
Orlando last won three games in a row Feb. 17-21, 2021. Conversely, Indiana is looking to pick itself up after losing nine of its past 11 games overall and five in a row on the road.
The Pacers were undone Monday by a one-sided third quarter and a lopsided turnover battle. They were outscored 35-19 in the third and saw their 22 turnovers lead to 22 Orlando points.
Tyrese Haliburton scored a game-best 23 points and had seven assists, yet he was left to lament his game-high six turnovers.
“Just some bad reads,” Haliburton said. … “I’ll blame myself more than giving them credit, which is probably the wrong thing to do. But I feel like I can control that for the majority, so I just gotta be better.”
Fellow trade-deadline acquisition Buddy Hield had 18 points for the Pacers, who played without Malcolm Brogdon and Lance Stephenson.
Brogdon sat out the second night of a back-to-back set as he works his way back from a right Achilles injury, while Stephenson missed his second consecutive contest due to a left-ankle sprain.
Rookie Chris Duarte is nursing a sore left big toe, which led him to an early exit in the third quarter Monday.
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen with that,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I did tell him, ‘Get with (head athletic trainer Josh Corbeil), get with the trainers. Get treatment and (we’ll) try to get you ready, if we can get you ready, for Wednesday.”
–Field Level Media
