Hill leads Magic over Pacers

Trevor Ariza scored 17 points for the Magic, who have won three of their last four and currently hold the seventh playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Hidayet Turkoglu and Dwight Howard each posted 10 points, while Tony Battie pulled down 10 rebounds for Orlando.

The Magic finished 47.5 percent shooting from the field.

"That’s a good win for us obviously with the situation in the standings," Magic coach Brian Hill said. "Obviously it just puts that much more importance on every game as we move forward here."

Jamaal Tinsley netted 27 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Pacers, who have dropped four in a row and are two games behind New Jersey for the eighth and final playoff slot.

Danny Granger chipped in with 13 points and Troy Murphy added 11. Jermaine O’Neal, who returned after missing Wednesday’s game with left ankle and knee sprains, donated 10 in defeat.

"We haven’t played defense," O’Neal said. "We are not shooting the ball very well. We are not passing the ball very well. We are not doing a lot of things very well."

Howard’s dunk gave Orlando a seven-point edge at the 4:15 mark in the first quarter, but Indiana fired back and took a 27-26 lead on Tinsley’s jumper as time expired.

The Magic controlled the second, ripping off a 13-0 burst — capped by Carlos Arroyo’s three-pointer and two free throws — for a 43-32 advantage.

Orlando led by as many as 12 the rest of the way and held a 51-41 halftime cushion.

The Pacers cut within three, 59-56, on Mike Dunleavy’s triple late in the third, however, the Magic embarked on an 8-0 spurt — highlighted by Hill’s five points — to close the frame with a 67-56 lead.

Indiana couldn’t get any closer than six in the fourth as Orlando cruised to victory.

The Pacers shot 42.1 percent from the floor.

Game Notes

The Magic outrebounded Indiana, 43-33...Orlando shot 28.6 percent from three- point range, while the Pacers converted 25 percent from long range.