Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy walked into the Magic’s practice session Thursday toting an armload of statistics to illustrate why they’ve lost two straight games and fallen into a 2-1 series hole against Indiana.
But Van Gundy knows simply harping on numbers the next two days won’t be enough to pull his team out of its funk in time for Game 4.
”Our point today wasn’t really on adjustments or anything…I wanted them to see it,” he said. ”I mean the numbers say one thing, but to watch it on film and to see what we’re talking about, because the mindsets gotta change, the disposition’s gotta change, the energy’s got to change.
”And then from there you can make adjustments.”
After squandering a late-game lead in Game 1, the Pacers have won two straight by owning the first and third quarters of play.
On Wednesday night in a 97-74 win, they outscored the Magic 32-17 in the third quarter, running their edge in that period for the series to 81-43. In the first quarter that advantage is 69-56.
— Reported by the Associated Press
