ORLANDO, Fla. – Danny Granger had 26 points and nine rebounds, Roy Hibbert added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic 97-74 on Wednesday night to a take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
The Pacers regained home-court advantage with the victory, riding good shooting early and building a 29-point lead in the fourth quarter.
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They also dominated scoring underneath thanks to a 46-33 rebounding edge and have outscored the Magic 81-43 in the third quarter in the series.
Glen Davis led the Magic with 22 points and J.J. Redick added 13. The Magic never led, struggled to get any scoring in the paint and made a series-low five 3-pointers.
Game 4 will be Saturday at Orlando.
Indiana Coach Frank Vogel implored the Pacers after each of the first two games to make better shot selections.
They finally did in Game 3.
It translated into their best shooting of the series. The Pacers built a 23-point lead in the third quarter and led 76-55 entering the fourth.
Indiana had its way both inside and out, shooting 47 percent for the game (37 of 79) and holding a 42-22 edge on points in the paint.
Meanwhile, aside from Davis, Orlando’s offense stalled at several points and the Magic connected on only 30 of their 71 attempts from the field.
Indiana led 44-38 at the half but started the game on an offensive tear, hitting nine of its first 10 shots from the field and shot 52 percent (18 of 34) for the half.
The Magic had few answers for Hill, who scored 13 points in the opening two periods.
But Orlando survived the fast start, thanks largely to Davis’ 16-point second quarter. His scoring spree featured mid-range jumpers and some baskets in the post.
It all came after Davis missed all three of his shots in the first quarter.
The Pacers put the Magic in a 10-point first-quarter hole for the third straight game, jumping to a 13-3 advantage.
Orlando missed its first five shots before Hedo Turkoglu hit a 3-pointer to finally put the Magic on the board.
SPURS 114, JAZZ 83: Tony Parker scored 18 points and San Antonio won at home, handing Utah its second-worst playoff loss in franchise history to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.
Coach Gregg Popovich practically put the Spurs on autopilot after a 20-0 run in the second quarter that stunned the Jazz, who had vowed to play better after the Spurs easily won Game 1. But this humiliating rout was even easier.
The Jazz never quite greeted Parker with the hard fouls Parker was supposed to have coming, and the Utah frontcourt of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap wasn’t any more imposing on offense. Jefferson scored 10 points and Millsap had nine.
Game 3 is Saturday night at Salt Lake City.
The only bigger embarrassment for the Jazz in the playoffs was a 42-point loss to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the 1998 NBA finals.
NOTES
Amare Stoudemire said there’s a “great chance” he can play Sunday in Game 4 of the Knicks’ series against Miami despite cutting his left hand on a fire extinguisher case. Tyson Chandler, the catalyst for New York’s defensive improvement, was voted the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year.
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