Oladipo Makes Up For Lost Time as Pacers Win

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Published on November 28 2017 6:19 am
Last Updated on November 28 2017 6:19 am

By ESPN

When Victor Oladipo was asked about his return to the lineup after missing Indiana's previous game, he couldn't describe how tormenting it was to watch from the sidelines with a bruised right knee.

So, when Oladipo was cleared for Monday night's matchup with the Orlando Magic, he made up for lost time with a performance that spoke for itself.

Oladipo scored 26 points to help the Pacers beat the Magic 121-109, handing Orlando its ninth straight loss.

"He was anxious to play and just came out aggressive," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "He shot the ball with a great deal of confidence ... when a guy is playing with that type of confidence, we try to put the ball in his hands and let him make plays, and he did that tonight."

Oladipo made his first 11 shots before finishing the game 11-for-14. He also grabbed six rebounds -- all on the defensive end of the floor -- and added five assists.

After his final bucket of the night -- an off-balance 3-pointer that banked in -- Oladipo turned and shrugged almost in disbelief that he had yet to miss a shot all night.

"Yeah, it was a little something," Oladipo said. "At that point, when you're making stuff like that, you don't know where it comes from. It just went in. It was pretty cool."

And when Oladipo finally missed a shot, the Pacers picked up the slack to mount a 13-0 scoring run that lasted nearly three minutes, putting Indiana ahead by 17 with five minutes left in the game.

It was the Pacers' fourth quarter surge on offense that ultimately proved to be the difference in a game where the Magic fought desperately to snap their losing streak.

The Pacers had five players in double figures as Bojan Bogdanovic added 22 points, Domantas Sabonis scored 19 points and Myles Turner and Lance Stephenson each added 18.

Orlando gave Indiana everything it could handle through the first three quarters. The Magic managed to fight back from 76-66 and close the deficit, trailing 85-84 heading into the fourth quarter. But the Pacers hit their stride during the final 12 minutes and outscored the Magic 36-25 in the fourth.

Jonathon Simmons led Orlando with 21 points.

"We fought hard. We played hard. We played well in spurts a lot of the basketball game," Magic coach Frank Vogel said. "Block out all the noise. Block out how many we lost and focus on trying to improve each day."

 

Monday, November 27 Scoreboard

Indiana 121, Orlando 109

Cleveland 113, Philadelphia 91

Detroit 118, Bosdton 108

Portland 103, New York 91

Houston 117, Brooklyn 103

San Antonio 115, Dallas 108

Sacramento 110, Golden  State 106

Los Angeles Clippers 120, Los Angeles Lakers 115


Tuesday, November 28 Schedule (All Times Central)

Miami at Cleveland, 6 p.m.

Phoenix at Chicago, 7 p.m.

Washington at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Denver at Utah, 9 p.m.

Milwaukee at Sacramento, 9 p.m.