Holiday’s three-pointer with seconds remaining gives Pacers 111-106 win over the Magic

With 31.1 seconds remaining, Orlando Magic point guard Markelle Fultz stole a T.J. Warren pass and broke away for a dunk to tie the game at 106-106.

Without Victor Oladipo and Malcolm Brogdon, the Indiana Pacers needed someone to step up.

Insert Aaron Holiday.

The second-year point guard continued his strong recent play by hitting the go-ahead three-pointer with 8.7 seconds left to give the Pacers a 109-106 lead.

On the Magic’s final offensive possession of the game, Justin Holiday got a steal off Evan Fournier to seal the Pacers win.

Without Brogdon, the Pacers’ primary playmaker, the team needed someone to fill his offensive void.

Instead, the team turned to a balanced offensive attack, with six players scoring double figures. Domantas Sabonis led the team with 25 points, and Myles Turner anchored the defense with 3 blocks.

The teams played an equal first quarter with the Magic taking a 25-24 lead into the second quarter.

Then, the Pacers’ bench took over.

Buckets from Doug McDermott, Goga Bitadze, T.J. McConnell and T.J. Leaf sprung a 12-2 run to give Indiana a 40-30 lead with 7:02 remaining.

The Pacers took a 55-45 lead into halftime.

They kept that momentum going into the third quarter, capped by a Turner three-pointer with 10:01 remaining in the third to give them an 11-point lead, the largest of the game.

But the Magic came storming back, led by Evan Fournier and Jonathan Isaac who combined for 19 points in the quarter. The run gave Orlando a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth battle that featured four lead changes.

The Pacers took a seven-point lead with a Sabonis free throw with 7:14 left. But the Magic roared back on multiple occasions before Holiday’s three-pointer gave the Pacers the lead for good.

Orlando was led by Fournier with 26 points and Isaac with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Warren particularly struggled in this outing, as he only got four shots off, the lowest total of his season.

Justin Holiday and McDermott made up for that production with 25 points combined off the bench. Jeremy Lamb looked solid with 14 points in his return from injury.

Leaf also had a very positive seven-minute stretch where he scored 8 points and recorded 4 rebounds.

The win improves the Pacers to 9-6. The Magic fall to 6-9.

Indiana returns to action on Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.