Nelson, Magic down Pacers

Nelson, who dished out five assists, and Howard, who pulled down 11 rebounds, each finished 7-of-12 from the field.

Grant Hill scored 14 points with six boards and Darko Milicic added 11 points in the fourth quarter for the Magic, who have won five of their last six.

Orlando shot 49 percent from the floor and converted on 26-of-43 (60.5 percent) free throws.

Jermaine O’Neal netted 23 points on 7-of-17 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Jamaal Tinsley and Stephen Jackson each contributed 19 points while Danny Granger had 10.

Granger’s trey broke a 14-14 tie at the 5:28 mark in the opening quarter, but a Howard free throw knotted the game again with 2 1/2 minutes to play. A layup by Rawle Marshall and Jackson’s two hits from the charity stripe put the Pacers up 27-22 after one.

Indiana maintained its advantage in the second, leading by as many as eight on Marquis Daniels’ layup late in the frame. Howard, though, followed up with a dunk to cut Orlando’s deficit to 51-45 at halftime.

O’Neal led the Pacers with 13 first-half points while Howard had 12 for the Magic.

Nelson’s two free throws and an alley oop by Howard squandered Indiana’s lead at the 7:44 mark in the third. Six minutes later, Orlando went up by seven after a Keith Bogans jump shot, but Marshall’s driving layup and one Jackson free throw made it a 72-68 game.

The Pacers got as close as two, 79-77, in the fourth on a pair of Granger free throws, but Darko Milicic answered with two layups and a free throw to give the Magic a six-point edge with 4:45 left. Indiana was never able to recover from that point on.

The Magic finished 34-of-69 (49.3 percent) shooting.

Game Notes

Orlando won for just the second time in its last seven home games against Indiana...The Pacers committed 20 turnovers...Orlando travels to Miami on Friday while Indiana hosts Cleveland...Attendance was 17,451.