In a way, Orlando Magic power forward Ryan Anderson could be flattered by the way the Indiana Pacers are treating him. The Pacers regard Anderson as so important that they refuse to give him any room on the offensive end of the court.
During the regular season, Anderson led the NBA in 3-pointers made (166) and 3-pointers attempted (422). In three games against the Pacers, Anderson has gone 5-for-15 from beyond the arc.
Perhaps no player has been affected more adversely by Dwight Howard's absence than Anderson. When Howard was patrolling the low post, teams had to account for the All-Star center and often left Anderson open on the perimeter.
"It's tough," Anderson said. "It's hard playing the whole year a certain way and then a team really tries to do everything they can to eliminate you totally out of the game. There's different things that I can do to help my teammates. I keep saying it every game, but [I can be] screening better, having a lot more energy, rebounding the ball a lot better."
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy was disappointed that Anderson collected just one rebound in 32-plus minutes in Game 3. The way Van Gundy figures it, Anderson can control his energy level even if the Pacers don't give him any room on offense.
And the Pacers aren't giving him or Orlando's other perimeter shooters much room.
"We have a lot of things built in just to basically allow us to minimize rotations," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "With this team, if you try to bring two to the ball every time they run a pick-and-roll and then try to cover it with rotations off the shooters, you'll get drilled."
Fastbreak follies
The Pacers continue to run the fastbreak effectively.
The Magic aren't.
In Game 2, Indiana tallied 22 fastbreak points. Orlando managed only two.
In Game 3, Indiana scored 18 points on the break. Orlando had none.
"It's just energy," Magic point guard Jameer Nelson said.
Given their difficulties in their halfcourt offense, the Magic would love to score some easy baskets by igniting their break. But at the same time, they must limit the Pacers' easy scoring chances.
"I don't understand how we're going to win with a 40-2 deficit in fastbreak points," Van Gundy said.
In Game 3, the Pacers converted the Magic's 17 turnovers into 27 points.
Special guest
Two of the Magic's bright spots during and after Game 3 were produced by people whose last name is Davis.
Glen Davis scored a team-high 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting.
And then there was his 1-year-old daughter, Amari Davis.
Glen brought Amari to his postgame press conference. She sat on the table and spoke occasionally.
Apparently, even at her young age, she also knows the difference between good basketball and bad basketball. The evidence: She crumpled up a box score of the 97-74 Magic loss.
Layups
• As of 6 Thursday night, a Magic spokesman said that about 1,100 tickets were still available for Game 4 at Amway Center on Saturday afternoon.
• Davis said Game 4 is critical. He called it a "must win."
• Davis said he did not hear from Howard after the Game 4 loss, but Davis said Howard texted him after Game 3 to tell Davis to stay focused and to keep fighting.
• Davis is exhausted â€" and understandably so. In addition to playing energetic low-post defense and scoring lots of points, he's setting screens in one pick-and-roll after another. After the Magic met on Thursday, Davis said he planned to take a long nap in a hyperbaric chamber, a device that exposes people to pure oxygen at an increased pressure level.
jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.
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