Indiana @ Orlando preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 7, 2018 ) Indiana 112, Orlando 90

The Indiana Pacers look to halt a season-worst three-game slide when they visit the Orlando Magic on Thursday. The Pacers are winless since losing star guard Victor Oladipo to a season-ending knee injury and their last two losses are by an average of 25 points.

Indiana has dominated Orlando by posting eight straight victories and in 15 of the past 16 so it will be glad to see the Magic after being trounced 107-89 by the host Washington Wizards on Wednesday. "Vic is not coming back," Pacers coach Nate McMillan told reporters after the club's lowest-scoring output of the season. "We have to move past that and not look on what we don't have and focus on what we do have. We have to get more energy in the game." The Magic have dropped four straight games and seven of their last eight after being outplayed in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's 126-117 home loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder. "It’s kind of the story of our season - we don’t maintain what works for us for 48 minutes," standout center Nikola Vucevic told reporters. "It’s very disappointing and very tough to deal with."

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

ABOUT THE PACERS (32-18): McMillan is trying to keep his team from unraveling after a strong first 47 contests prior to the three-game slide. "We just got to roll up our sleeves and play with more energy and more hustle and more scrap," McMillan told reporters. "That's where it starts. We've got to get our mojo back." Small forward Bojan Bogdanovic poured in 26 points in a 112-90 road win over the Magic on Dec. 7 and he has scored 20 or more points on 14 occasions this season.

ABOUT THE MAGIC (20-31): Orlando hasn't had a player in the NBA All-Star Game since Dwight Howard in 2012 but Vucevic has a chance of ending that drought. Vucevic boasts career-best averages of 20.7 points, 12 rebounds along with 3.8 assists while posting 34 double-doubles, and appears to be on his way to surpassing his career high of 46 in that category. "It would be great for him and great for our franchise," Magic coach Steve Clifford told reporters. "He’s really played at a high level at both ends of the floor. I think he’s smart, and he gets himself ready to play every night."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Pacers have won each of their past eight visits to Orlando.

2. Orlando SF Jonathan Simmons (abdominal) is listed as questionable for Thursday's game.

3. Indiana G Tyreke Evans (back) is expected to miss his third straight game.

PREDICTION: Magic 104, Pacers 100