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Reeling Magic welcome Pacers to Central Florida

Jan 29, 2012 - 3:36 PM (Sports Network) - A pair of Eastern Conference playoff contenders meet in Central Florida on Sunday when a struggling Orlando team plays host to the Indiana Pacers in the Magic Kingdom.

Orlando has dropped three of four and is coming off a bad loss in the Big Easy on Friday when Carl Landry netted a team-high 17 points and the New Orleans Hornets rolled over the Magic, 93-67, to snap a nine-game losing streak.

Dwight Howard scored 28 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, his 15th double- double of the season, for Orlando, which continued to struggle offensively, shooting just 39.3 percent from the floor and turning the ball over 23 times.

"We were just awful," said Magic head coach Stan Van Gaudy. "It didn't matter what we called. We had no energy coming off of screens, the ball didn't move, guys didn't want to shoot the ball. It's very, very bad right now."

Earlier in the week Orlando set a franchise record for fewest points in an 87-56 road loss to Boston and followed that up blowing a 27-point lead against those same Celtics three says later.

"The three worst losses I think we've had since I've been here and it's in the matter of five days," Van Gundy said. "It's tough to take."

About the only thing that went well for Orlando over the past week was a 102-83 triumph in Indiana between the two Boston contests. Ryan Anderson scored a game-high 24 in that one but was forced to sit out in New Orleans with a strained left calf and remains questionable for tonight.

Also the Magic's starting point guard, Jameer Nelson, left Friday's game against the Hornets in the second quarter after being hit in the jaw but expects to play tonight.

The Pacers, meanwhile, are also coming in off a tough shooting night during a 94-87 setback in Boston on Friday. Danny Granger netted 21 points in that one to lead Indiana, which went a dismal 1-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Center Roy Hibbert was forced to leave the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury, but returned in the third and ended with 11 points and seven rebounds. Paul George contributed 16 points and nine boards while David West has 14 and 8 in the loss.

"We had a lot of great looks that didn't go down," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "Some of that was their defense. You have to credit their defense, they shut Orlando down twice, they shut us down tonight. We didn't play a good game and you have to play a good game to beat this basketball team in their building."

Orlando has won six straight over the Pacers, including last Tuesday's win in Indy.