Orlando @ Indiana preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 10, 2019 ) Indiana 109, Orlando 102

The Indiana Pacers are winners of eight of their last 11 games and are coming off a dominating performance at Brooklyn on Wednesday in a 115-86 victory. The Pacers will try to pick on an injured opponent and tick off another win when they host the Orlando Magic on Saturday.

Indiana could not keep pace at Houston and was knocked off at home by the Milwaukee Bucks before stepping up in Brooklyn behind career highs of 24 points and 13 assists from shooting guard Aaron Holiday, who was pressed into point guard duties due to injuries to Malcolm Brogdon and T.J. McConnell. "I felt like we just came out and played with confidence," Holiday told Fox Sports Indiana. "Obviously, first couple games – Milwaukee and Houston – they (Malcolm Brogdon and T.J. McConnell) went down and we had to come out and play. But we just try to play confident and just help our team win." The Magic will have to overcome a pair of key injuries in the frontcourt after power forward Aaron Gordon and center Nikola Vucevic went down with ankle injuries. "It's very disappointing because injuries really suck," Vucevic told reporters. "Unfortunately, they are a part of the job that we do, and I wish they didn't happen and it's unfortunate. It's obviously bad timing for us as well because we have a very tough road trip and we had just started playing better. I believe that we have guys who are going to step up."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Orlando), FS Indiana

ABOUT THE MAGIC (6-8): Orlando had a three-game winning streak snapped and lost both Vucevic and Gordon during a 113-97 loss at Toronto that kicked off a four-game road trip on Wednesday. "We've got to adapt the way that we play, become really good defensively and have a next-man-up mentality," Magic guard Evan Fournier told reporters. "This is no time to dwell on anything and we've got to have that fighting mentality. ... (Vucevic and Gordon) are hurt, but not dead and we still have lots of games left, so we’ve got to keep fighting." Fournier, who is averaging 21 points over the last six games, will be one of the players shouldering the extra load with Vucevic out at least 7-10 days and Gordon day-to-day.

ABOUT THE PACERS (8-6): Aaron and Justin Holiday combined to score 44 points in Wednesday's win while going 8-of-13 from 3-point range. "They've been playing great," power forward Domantas Sabonis told reporters of the Holiday brothers. "They've been playing with a lot of confidence. Teams are doubling us, so we're just kicking it out to open shooters and they're knocking shots down with confidence and that's really good for us. And teams have to decide if they want to double or give up threes." Sabonis collected 16 points and 18 rebounds in the win to record his eighth straight double-double.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pacers G Victor Oladipo (knee) is practicing and participating in five-on-five scrimmages but is not expected back until next month.

2. Magic PF Jonathan Isaac recorded multiple blocks in 10 of his 12 games this season.

3. The road team took each of the last three meetings, including Indiana's 109-102 victory at Orlando on Nov. 10.

PREDICTION: Pacers 106, Magic 103