Pacers Steal Magic, Game 3
Playing in noisy Market Square Arena, Shaquille O’Neal and his Orlando teammates didn’t seem so magical after all.
The Pacers shut down the Magic in the fourth quarter Saturday to take Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals with a 105-100 victory. Indiana can tie the series 2-2 with another win Monday at Market Square Arena, where the Magic have lost seven straight.
After dominating the Pacers in the first two games with great shooting and strong performances from O’Neal, the Magic could rely on neither aspect of their game. Foul trouble limited O’Neal to 30 minutes, the Pacers defended the perimeter better and Indiana ended up with a 38-26 rebounding advantage.
“We were playing their style in Game 1 and Game 2,” said Reggie Miller, who led the Pacers with 26 points. “We did a good job in the second half of getting to their shooters and keeping Shaq from getting down low.”
Orlando still hit 13 3-pointers, giving the Magic 36 for the series, but only two came in the fourth quarter, when they missed 15 of 22 from the field.
After scoring 71 points in the first two games, O’Neal finished with just 18 on 8-of-15 shooting.
“We bothered him a little more,” said forward Dale Davis, who along with Antonio Davis assumed the bulk of defensive duty when Rik Smits got into foul trouble. “We got him off the block some. That made it a little tougher on him, and we tried to double on him more.”
The Pacers were clinging to a two-point lead with a little more than a minute left when Orlando was called for an illegal defense, its third of the game. Miller hit the technical, and Derrick McKey, who had 22 points, added an 18-footer from the baseline with 54 seconds left.
Until Anfernee Hardaway, who had 29 points, hit a 3 with 12 seconds left, the Magic had scored just 15 points in the final period. That shot cut Indiana’s lead to 102-98, and Hardaway and Dennis Scott both put up air balls from behind the arc in the waning seconds.
“We held them to one shot down the stretch and that was a big difference,” Pacers coach Larry Brown said. “Our post defense was better today, and therefore our perimeter defense was better.”
Meanwhile, the Pacers hit 7 of 8 free throws in the last 30 seconds to seal the victory. Indiana had 41 free-throw attempts, making 33.
Forcing the Magic into more of a halfcourt game helped the Pacers, and that’s how Miller wants to see his team play the rest of the series.
“We can’t play their tempo and beat them,” he said. “We can’t get caught up in fast-break basketball. Defense is going to allow us to win this series.”
Pacers 105, Magic 100
ORLANDO (100)
Grant 5-8 1-2 11, D.Scott 5-15 1-1 15, O’Neal 8-15 2-4 18, Anderson 4-10 0-0 10, Hardaway 8-14 9-11 29, Turner 4-5 0-0 10, Shaw 1-2 0-0 3, Royal 1-2 2-2 4, Rollins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-71 15-20 100.
INDIANA (105)
D.Davis 4-6 4-7 12, McKey 8-12 4-4 22, Smits 7-10 5-6 19, Jackson 2-8 5-6 9, Miller 7-17 9-9 26, Workman 1-2 2-2 4, A.Davis 3-3 3-5 9, B.Scott 1-4 1-2 4, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-62 33-41 105.
Orlando 23 33 24 20 - 100
Indiana 29 26 27 23 - 105
3-Point goals-Orlando 13-26 (Hardaway 4-7, D.Scott 4-11, Turner 2-2, Anderson 2-5, Shaw 1-1), Indiana 6-19 (Miller 3-10, McKey 2-5, Scott 1-2, Jackson 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Orlando 33 (Turner 7), Indiana 44 (A.Davis 10). Assists-Orlando 21 (Grant, O’Neal, Hardaway 4), Indiana 23 (Jackson 13). Total fouls-Orlando 31, Indiana 20. Technicals-Orlando illegal defense 3, Indiana illegal defense. A-16,477 (16,530).
xxxx NBA PLAYOFFS Today’s game San Antonio at Houston, 12:30 p.m. (NBC)