There's clutch.
And then there's clutching your throat.
The Indiana Pacers, who really ought to win this series with Orlando in five or six games, flat-out choked down the stretch, choked the way they choked against the Chicago Bulls in game after hard-fought game during last year's first-round series loss.
There's just no pleasant way to say it after the Magic's 81-77 Game 1 victory over the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
And suddenly, this series that didn't look terribly dangerous looks ridiculously dangerous. A lot more dangerous than it really should be, not against an Orlando team that doesn't have Dwight Howard, has Hedo Turkoglu playing with a busted-up face and Glenn "Big Baby'' Davis operating on a bum ankle.
How do you explain blowing a late seven-point lead, on your home court, against a team that is smaller, less athletic and lacks the kind of depth you possess?
It was Paul George, missing two wide-open 3s late and generally playing without a lick of offensive assertiveness.
It was Danny Granger's horror show, missing shots and free throws and turning the ball over down the stretch, giving ammunition to critics who suggest the Pacers don't have a go-to guy in the clutch.
It was Darren Collison, who otherwise played a gritty defensive game, dribbling aimlessly and settling for a way-short jumper from 19 feet when his team was down three points late.
It was the Pacers missing nine free throws on a night when they doubled up the Magic in raw number of free throw attempts.
It was, in a word, a collapse.
This is one they've not only got to own, but recover from -- and quickly.
A year ago against the Chicago Bulls, this kind of origami act could be excused, coming on the road, against a great team, perpetrated by a young team that had not been to the playoffs in many years.
It's not excusable this year.
"We're a great 3-point shooting team and free throw shooting team,'' Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "And we didn't make them (Saturday). That's basketball.''
The Magic shouldn't have a lick of hope in this series. But now they've got some. Partially because they seized the moment, especially veteran Jason Richardson, hitting monster shots down the stretch. And partially -- mostly -- because the Pacers were awful when it mattered.
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This was supposed to be the next step in the Pacers' progression. A year ago, they were the little upstart team that had found its way under Vogel and hoped only to make the Bulls series competitive, and they did that with room to spare.
This year, they are coming into this as not only a favorite, but a prohibitive favorite. Most have them winning in five games. I'm on record saying it will be six.
But this was an atrocious and shocking start to it all.
"We've got to figure out how to finish,'' David West said with a sigh. "We've done it during the season. We executed down the stretch. But these are the playoffs. You can't have nights like this.''
Good teams do what they're supposed to do, win games like this, win games when they hold the road team to 39 percent shooting and 81 points.
But they got one of those volume-shooting nights from Granger, who needs to live this one down very quickly and re-establish himself Monday in Game 2.
They got one of those quiet games from George, who, when he did finally step up, missed two open 3s that could have put away the game. Some of us are tired of hearing Vogel say George "is our best all-around player.'' Well . . . show it. Take over. Be a force. Make a difference.
They got one of those from George Hill, who couldn't quite keep Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson in front of him and ended up watching Collison run the show most of the way down the stretch.
The Magic, meanwhile, are playing with nothing to lose and everything to prove. Remember how Howard made noise earlier this season about how he didn't want to come back if Magic management didn't surround him with better teammates? You think this group, which went 4-6 without Howard down the stretch, wants to show the world -- and Howard -- just how good they can be even without their dominant big man?
"Sure,'' Vogel said. "If there's any level of resentment for any reason. I've been in a situation in Boston, where a guy is concerned, 'That guy is getting all the shots,' so when he goes out, it's like, 'OK, now's my chance.' Obviously there's been a great deal of distractions around Howard, so I'm sure there are a lot of guys in that locker room who want to show they can do it without him.''
The Pacers spent all season surpassing expectations. Saturday night, they fell on their faces -- with the notable exceptions of West and Roy Hibbert.
It's just one game, true.
It just can't become two, or there's going to be some explaining to do.
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