Pacers coach Frank Vogel challenged his bench to step it up against the Orlando Magic to give the starters more time to rest in the first night of a back-to-back, and they responded in resounding fashion, turning a close game into a 98-79 blowout and ensuring that no starter apart from Lance Stephenson played more than 27 minutes.
Danny Granger led the team in scoring for the first time this season with 16 on 5-9 shooting as the team made it a point to get him going after some recent struggles. Paul George and Lance Stephenson had 15 apiece, Luis Scola had 10, 4 and 4, Ian Mahinmi had 7, 5 and 2 blocks, and CJ Watson had 12 points.
The Pacers are now 37-10 for the season but will face one of their biggest tests of the season when they head to Atlanta tomorrow night to face the Hawks. The Pacers have not won there during the regular season for 7 years and lost 97-87 the last time they were there on Jan. 8. At least the starters will be relatively fresh after sitting out the fourth quarter today.
For some Andrew Bynum news, the update is that he won't be in town until probably next week and likely won't play for up to 4 weeks as he becomes acclimated to his new team and their plays. Meanwhile, Luol Deng, who was traded to the Cavs for Bynum, has revealed that his new team is in complete disarray, which could explain why Bynum was so unhappy there.
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