LEAD: Magic bounces back from Boston bashing to beat Pacers

By Paul Levine Jan 25, 2012, 7:27 GMT

Los Angeles - A day after getting the beans knocked out of them by the Boston Celtics, the Orlando Magic bounced back in a big way on Tuesday night.

Ryan Anderson scored 24 points, JJ Redick had 15 off the bench and the visiting Magic overcame Dwight Howard's early foul trouble to beat the Indiana Pacers 102-83.

'That's the beauty of this league,' Anderson explained. 'We have back-to-back games and opportunities where we can redeem ourselves. These are important comeback games. That's the way we can play every night.'

Anderson went scoreless Monday when Orlando established franchise-lows in scoring and shooting percentage (24.6) in an 87-56 bashing by the Celtics. However, the Magic shrugged off the beat-down to gain a split of the brief two-games in as many nights road trip.

'Every team is bound to have bad games and last night happened to be the worst game in Magic history. But it's okay, we have to stay focused,' said Howard, who surpassed Nick Anderson as Orlando's all-time leading scorer after finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.

'When we have bad games we can't point the finger at each other,' he said. 'We're a family, we have to look in the mirror and change our ways. Everybody came out with a better effort and that's what we have to do.'

Glen Davis came off the bench to score 13 points while Turkish-native Hedo Turkoglu added 11 and eight assists as Orlando (12-5) won for the fifth time in the last six games.

With Howard on the bench after picking up three fouls, the Magic fell behind by 10, but dug itself out of the hole and played the Pacers to a half-time standoff at 45-apiece.

Howard returned and the All-Star centre controlled the middle at both ends as Orlando pulled away by outscoring its hosts 29-17 in the third quarter.

The Magic carried a 74-62 advantage into the final frame and led by as many as 21 before coasting to the win.

'Sometimes when you take a loss like last night, you quit taking winning for granted and you get back focused on that being the only thing that matters,' Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. 'I think it refocused us a little bit.'

Danny Granger and Roy Hibert netted 16 points apiece for the Pacers, who suffered their first home loss of the season after opening 5-0.

'We didn't defend well and we lost grip of the game,' Hibbert said. 'After that it was just difficult to try to get back into it.'

Elsewhere: New York Knicks 111, Charlotte Bobcats 78: Tyson Chandler had 20 points with 17 rebounds, Amar'e Stoudemire and Landry Field scored 18 apiece, and the visiting Knicks overcame Carmelo Anthony's career-low one-point on 0-7 shooting to snap a six-game slide.

Kemba Walker tossed in 22 points to pace the Bobcats, losers of five straight and 11-of-12.

Miami Heat 92, Cleveland Cavaliers 85: Chris Bosh poured in 17 of his season-high 35 points in the fourth quarter, LeBron James added 18 against his former team and the Heat minus All-Star guard Dwyane Wade for the fifth straight game because of a right ankle sprain beat the scrappy Cavaliers.

Rookie Kyrie Irving led visiting Cleveland with 17 points.

Toronto Raptors 99, Phoenix Suns 96: Italian hot-shot Andrea Bargnani, sidelined the last six games with a left calf strain, returned with 27 of his 36 points in the second half, and the visiting Raptors snapped a six-game slide by setting the Suns for the first time in 15 meetings.

Polish-native Marcin Gortat had 21 points with 12 rebounds while Steve Nash contributed 17 points and 14 assists for Phoenix, which hadn't lost to the Raptors since Feb. 10, 2004.

Portland Trail Blazers 97, Memphis Grizzlies 84: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 23 points and the Blazers went on decisive 22-2 second-half run to snap the surging Grizzlies' seven-game roll.