Five questions before the Magic face the Pacers

How does Orlando get back on track after recent struggles?

Dec 31, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) shoots the ball while Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) defends in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Orlando Magic host the Indiana Pacers tonight.

These two teams just faced each other on New Year's Eve, with Orlando visiting Indiana on the last day of 2025, where Paolo Banchero hit the go-ahead shot to take the lead late.

Indiana is having a down year, which was to be expected after losing Tyrese Haliburton for the entire season; maintaining a culture led by your best player is hard to do after losing said player.

The Magic (19-16) are the East's 6-seed; while the 6-29 Pacers are last in the standings.

To help preview the matchup, we brought in Tony East of Forbes Sports to answer a few questions about this Indiana Pacers team.

What has been the story for the Pacers so far this season?

Health, but not for the obvious reason of Tyrese Haliburton’s absence. That was known going into the year.

What wasn’t as predictable: Multi-game absences for Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, Ben Sheppard, Isaiah Jackson, Kam Jones, T.J. McConnell, and even a few others.

That is hard to overcome, and hardship players filling in – some more capably than others – only can help so much with an on-the-fly need to learn plays and be useful.

Pascal Siakam is scoring 2nd highest rate of his career. What has been the key to his success?

Siakam has scaled up in volume without much dropoff in efficiency.

His three-level scoring ability makes him useful with many groups for the Pacers, and he is often the starter tasked with carrying the bench since he plays three stints per half.

Painful to say for a 6-29 team: it’s hard to imagine where the Pacers would be without him.

What is something people should know about the Pacers that cannot be found in the standings or stat sheet?

They are in a weird spot identity wise.

Before the season, they hoped to emulate at least some of their identity from last season, even sans Haliburton.

That… hasn’t been the case so far and they are searching for anything to hang their hat on. For a bit, when they won 4/6 against some crummy teams, their defense looked really good.

If the Pacers were to lose to the Magic, what would be the reason why?

They are not a good basketball team.

They also cannot put together a 48-minute game in any way – see their last game against the Magic, featuring a 15-point fourth quarter, as the why.

What’s your prediction for the game?

Magic by 8-ish.