Tyrese Haliburton controls the game as he leads Indiana Pacers to easy win over Orlando Magic

The Indiana Pacers picked up a dominant 111-97 victory over the Orlando Magic at Kia Center behind the leadership from All-Star Tyrese Haliburton.

Both of these teams have a young core and have exceeded expectations coming into this season. It was predicted that both squads would be continuing their rebuild and competing for a play-in spot at best, but instead they are fighting for a top 6 seed heading into the last month of the season. Tyrese Haliburton and Paolo Banchero are superstars who are under 25 years old and with other young talented pieces to compliment them, the Pacers and Magic will both be a problem in the East for years to come.

In this game, Hali finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. Pascal Siakam also scored 20 points to go along with 7 rebounds. TJ McConnell and Obi stopping each scored 17 points off the bench while Aaron Nesmith had 16 points. Myles Turner ended with 12 points, 8 boards, and 6 blocks.

Banchero scored a team high 19 points while Wendell Carter Jr. recorded 13 points and 15 rebounds. Cole Anthony scored 16 points off the bench and Franz Wagner had 13 points.

Indiana improves to 36-29 with this win, sitting 7th in the East but 2 games away from the 4th seed. The Pacers are looking to get a top 6 seed to avoid the play-in, so tonight’s victory is huge toward that goal. They are 6-4 over their last 10 games and will look to pick up another win on Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Orlando drops to 37-28 with this loss and are currently the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. This is a tough loss to swallow and over the past 2 games the Magic have failed to score over 100 points, so this is something they need to work on if they want to make a run in the playoffs. This team is 7-3 over their last 10 games and will look to get things right on Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets.