IC Cold Links: Pacers Face Magic For Home Finale

Last season, the Pacers' longest winning streak was three games and it only happened once. They won three out of four a few times and lost a lot of heart-breakers that would've extended a winning streak, but of course, didn't.

A win over the Orlando Magic tonight would give the Pacers their third five-game winning streak this season and second such streak in the past three weeks. The obvious key with all of those wins is the team's ability to knock down shots.

Troy Murphy summed up the ease of analysis after Saturday's win, "We are spacing the floor and hitting key shots much better now. This wasn’t happening early in the year and resulted in some losses for us."

Unfortunately the Pacers live and die by their ability to make timely shots and all season long they struggled to find a way to win when those shots weren't falling. While their defensive rating improved this season it was nowhere near good enough to help them win games on those nights when points were tough to come by.

But points have been plentiful lately, along with the W's, so tonight should be an interesting challenge to wrap up the home season. The Magic played in Cleveland yesterday and show no signs of giving Dwight Howard or Rashard Lewis the night off in anticipation of the playoffs. What type of effort or minutes we see from the key Magic players remains to be seen, so the opportunity is there for the Pacers to send the fans home for the season with one last win.

After the jump, a few links of interest on the win over the Nets, Reb Porter's farewell, and the NBA draft early entry list.

Longtime announcer Porter retiring
Mike Wells reports on Reb Porter prepping for his last game on the PA mic at the Fieldhouse tonight.

Monday’s game: Magic at Pacers, 7 p.m. - OrlandoSentinel.com
Brian Schmitz previews the Magic's visit to Indy tonight.

Lee goes from top to bottom with Nets
Mike Wells checks in with Courtney Lee dealing with all of the losses this year after being in the NBA Finals last season.

Indianapolis native Courtney Lee returns to Conseco Fieldhouse
Jeremiah Johnson catches up with former Pike High great, Courtney Lee on his return to Indy with the Nets.

Game #80 Recap: The No Defense Show
Jared Wade at 8.9 recaps the defense-free zone at the Fieldhouse on Saturday night.

2010 NBA Draft early entry watch list
The early entry list for the NBA draft is now up to 42 players which would take the draft well into the second round. Good thing most haven't hired an agent yet.