Appearing on camera for the first time since he underwent back surgery April 20, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard told a paparazzo today that he would never quit on his team.

“I’ve never been a quitter my whole life,” Howard told the celebrity gossip website TMZ as he walked back from a rehabilitation session in Beverly Hills, Calif.

“I’ve played through many injuries. This is just one that I can’t play through, and I would never quit on my team. I would never quit on my fans. I would never quit on anybody, my coach, whoever it is. I’ve never been a quitter. For people to say that, it hurt.”

Howard also volunteered that he has spoken with Magic coach Stan Van Gundy “a bunch of times since the playoffs have started, what I see from my view just watching the game.”

That would be surprising considering that Howard was said to be incensed that Van Gundy, in response to a direct question, said on April 5 that he had heard from the “top” of the Magic organization that Howard wanted him fired.

After the Magic’s practice today in Orlando, Van Gundy said he had reached out to Howard either right before or right after Game 2 of the team’s playoff series against the Indiana Pacers.

“He’s bored to death because he can’t really do anything,” Van Gundy said. “He’s sitting in a motel and doing his rehab, and the rehab, it’s not like you’re out running three miles or anything. You’re starting slow. So he’s bored more than anything.”

General Manager Otis Smith visited Howard in California on Tuesday, and both Smith and Magic CEO Alex Martins said that Howard has not requested a trade.

As Howard walked away from the TMZ cameraman, Howard said, “We all we got.”

That phrase has turned into his teammates’ motto in his absence.

Howard said he feels “a little sad that I can’t be in Orlando” with his teammates.

“I feel like I’m in jail right now,” Howard said.

Follow Josh Robbins on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.

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ORLANDO - 

Danny Granger scored 26 points, Roy Hibbert had 18 and the Indiana Pacers ran away in the second half for a 97-74 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

The Pacers outscored the Magic 32-17 in the third quarter and 53-36 in the second half to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Saturday in Orlando.

Glen Davis scored 16 of his 22 points for Orlando in the second quarter, J.J. Redick had 13 points off the bench and Jameer Nelson added 10.

The Pacers pulled away in the third quarter behind 12 points from Hibbert and better than 52 percent shooting from the field.

Hibbert and Granger led a 15-3 run that turned a nine-point Indiana lead into a 21-point bulge in about four minutes. Hibbert had six points during the run and Granger scored seven, including five in a row to make it 72-51.

The third-seeded Pacers took a 76-55 lead into the fourth quarter after being up just six at halftime and led by as many as 29.

“I think our starters are just really dialed in,” said Indiana coach Frank Vogel, whose team out-rebounded the Magic 46-33, with Hibbert getting 10 and Granger nine. “They have played extremely well together.”

Vogel said his team wouldn’t look too far ahead after an easy win, especially since the Pacers lost three of four to the Magic in the regular season series.

“I think it’s always a concern, but [we] understand how dangerous this team is,” said Vogel.

George Hill added 15 points in the win, Paul George scored 12 and Darren Collison had 10 off the bench.

Hill and Granger combined to scored 17 points in the first quarter and the Pacers shot better than 62 percent for a 23-14 lead. The Magic trailed by 11 just six minutes in after a Granger three-pointer.

“We didn’t play well at either end of the floor,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “It was a very, very tough day. They clearly dominated us.”

Davis had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the second quarter for the Magic, including four in a row to spark a quick 6-0 burst that cut their deficit from nine to three in a minute and a half.

It got as close as two on a Davis jumper later in the quarter, but the Pacers scored six of the last eight points of the half to take a 44-38 lead into the break.

Game Notes

The Pacers were 8-for-20 from three-point range and shot 46.8 percent from the field overall…The Magic shot 42.3 percent and turned the ball over 17 times leading to 27 Indiana points.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Before Game 3, Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger admitted his team might’ve taken the Orlando Magic lightly once Dwight Howard was ruled out for the season.

“You lose a player like Dwight, the best center in the game, and it’s human nature to have kind of a letdown,” Granger told reporters. “That’s a lot of the reason they got us in Game 1.”

It took a Game 1 loss to wake the Pacers up.

After a dominant Game 3 victory, the Pacers look primed to lay this series to rest.

Danny Granger scored an efficient 26 points and Roy Hibbert continued to dominate Orlando’s undersized frontcourt as the Pacers won 97-74, taking a 2-1 series lead and showing their Game 1 loss may have indeed been a fluke.

“Game 1, they were the better team, point blank,” Pacers forward David West said. “But I think we’ve got to the point where we’re watching film and making the right adjustments and doing what’s necessary for us to win.”

Can the Magic, who felt great entering Game 3 after splitting in Indianapolis, make this a series after a demoralizing return to Orlando? Or is this dominant run — the Pacers are outscoring the Magic by 40 points over the past six quarters — simply the Magic earning the Pacers’ full attention?

Indiana showed no weakness in Game 3, controlling both ends of the floor and mercilessly beating up on the undersized, overmatched Magic. And it all started with Indiana’s command of the paint.

There’s no question Indiana’s frontcourt advantage is the biggest factor in this series. With no Howard around, the All-Star Hibbert has Glen Davis (listed at a generous 6-foot-9) and Ryan Anderson (a stretch power forward not accustomed to playing against bruising centers) swatting at his shoulders. Hibbert was whistled for stray elbows twice — but in his defense, Orlando’s big men come up to only his elbows.

Hibbert totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes on Wednesday night, and his three blocks upped his series total to 14. He’s a big reason the Magic made only 10 shots in the paint, compared to 21 for the Pacers. “I told the guys, ‘Pass it to me and I’ll make him move,’” Hibbert said.

Perhaps most telling: The Magic didn’t record a rebound ’til there was 3 minutes, 17 seconds left in the first quarter. That’s eight minutes without a rebound. Howard himself rarely goes eight minutes without snagging a board.

“They’ve got a size disadvantage without Dwight Howard in there — there’s no secret there,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. “They’re doing the best they can.”

With Davis, Anderson and the unproven Earl Clark in the frontcourt, their best isn’t even close to getting it done. And it’s not just at center.

Granger is too quick and skilled for Hedo Turkoglu. The Pacers’ starting guards, Paul George and George Hill, are bigger than Orlando’s guards. The Pacers’ second unit of Darren Collison, Leandro Barbosa and Tyler Hansbrough are better than all of Orlando’s off-the-benchers except J.J. Redick.

“Look, they’re bigger than us at most every position,” Redick says. “We battled in Game 1, we battled in Game 2 and tonight we battled for the first half. I think we just have to keep that up.”

Yes, battle. And make 3-pointers and free throws. And rebound better. And not turn the ball over.

There isn’t any one area Indiana dominated in, because they pretty much dominated them all.

It’s a far cry from the Indiana’s Game 1 upset loss at home, in which they managed only 77 points and let Orlando dominate down the stretch.

“That loss really woke us up and showed us what Orlando was capable of,” Granger said.

“We knew we really had to play this series to win.”

ORLANDO — Size does matter in the NBA, a fact the Indiana Pacers pounded into the Orlando Magic Wednesday night. The Pacers hammered the timid and defenseless Magic 97-74 behind 26 points and nine rebounds from Danny Granger and 18 points and 10 rebounds from Roy Hibbert. George Hill added 15 points for the Pacers, whose size advantage at every position really showed in the second half when they outscored Orlando 53-36, taking full advantage of the absence of injured Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard. “Dwight is the best center in the game, so when you lose him, it’s a huge hole to fill,” Granger said. “And we’ve got a lot of guys who can go into the post and take advantage of it. I think we can be pretty proud of what we did offensively and defensively tonight.” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy had just the opposite reaction after his team fell behind 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Saturday in Orlando. “You can go across the board and I don’t think anyone played well,” Van Gundy said. “There are team wins and there are team losses and this was a team loss. Players, coaches, you name it. They clearly dominated us.” The Pacers outscored the Magic 42-22 in the paint and won the battle of the boards 46-33. They limited a Magic team that averaged 27 attempts and 10 made 3-pointers this season, to just 15 attempts and five makes from behind the line. “I told our guys to stay out on the perimeter and guard their 3-point shooters,” Hibbert said. “I told them if they take it to the basket, I would block or alter their shots and it worked out pretty well. We were good offensively, but we were really good defensively.” Orlando got 22 points, but only four rebounds from Howard’s replacement, Glen Davis. The Magic’s starting five had only 12 rebounds between them for the game. The 6-8 Davis did nearly all of his scoring on the perimeter, but got dominated in the paint. The Magic, who trailed by just six at halftime, got swamped in the second half when Indiana went almost exclusively inside with its offense. The first half was just the opposite story. Indiana hit nine of its first 10 shots, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range. Granger had two of the treys and Hill the other as the Pacers sailed off to a 21-10 lead eight minutes into the game. Hill finished the quarter with nine and Granger had eight as Indiana moved the ball quickly and efficiently around the perimeter. Davis shot Orlando back into the game in the second period. He hit three straight 18-footers from nearly the identical spot a step behind the foul line on his way to scoring 16 points in the quarter. Davis hit six of seven jumpers during one stretch, rebounding the only miss for a putback layup. For all of that, however, the best the Magic could do was get the halftime deficit down to 44-38. Indiana outscored Orlando 32-17 in the third period to effectively put the game away with a 21-point lead going into the fourth quarter. “This was a terrific win,” Indiana Coach Frank Vogel said. “Our starters are really dialed in. We understand the importance of winning on the road to be a great basketball team and go deep in the playoffs.” Van Gundy hinted that there may be changes in the starting lineup after watching his team miss its first seven shots to open the game, and then get blown out in the third quarter. “We’re in holes at the beginning of every half,” he said. “We fought our way back in the second quarter, but we can’t be playing out of a whole all the time. We’ll look at that and see if we need to make some changes.” NOTES: Indiana led by as many as 29 in the second half. The Magic never led in the game. … Indiana has won six straight road games, dating back to the regular season. … Orlando had beaten Indiana four straight times at home during playoff games. Indiana C Roy Hibbert has 14 blocks in three playoff games. Ten of the blocks have been against Magic C Glen Davis. … The Magic are in the playoffs for the sixth straight season, the longest active streak in the Eastern Conference.

ORLANDO — Size does matter in the NBA, a fact the Indiana Pacers pounded into the Orlando Magic Wednesday night. The Pacers hammered the timid and defenseless Magic 97-74 behind 26 points and nine rebounds from Danny Granger and 18 points and 10 rebounds from Roy Hibbert. George Hill added 15 points for Indiana, whose size advantage at every position really showed in the second half when the Pacers grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and pulled away from a Magic team badly missing Dwight Howard’s defensive presence in the lane. The Pacers outscored the Magic 42-22 in the paint and won the battle of the boards 46-33 to go up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is in Orlando Saturday. Orlando got 22 points, but only four rebounds from Howard’s replacement, Glen Davis. The 6-8 Davis did nearly all of his scoring on the perimeter, but got dominated in the paint. The Magic, who trailed by just six at halftime, got swamped 53-36 in the second half when Indiana went almost exclusively inside with its offense. The first half was just the opposite story. Indiana hit nine of its first 10 shots, including 3-for-3 from 3-point and Granger had two of the treys and Hill the other as the Pacers sailed off to a 21-10 lead eight minutes into the game. Hill finished the quarter with nine and Granger had eight as Indiana moved the ball quickly and efficiently around the perimeter. The Magic, on the other hand, missed their first seven shots of the game. Turkoglu stopped the drought with a 3-pointer at the 8:35 mark, but Orlando shot only 30 percent for the period and was fortunate to trail only 23-14 when the buzzer sounded. Davis shot Orlando back into the game in the second period. He hit three straight 18-footers from nearly the identical spot a step behind the foul line on his way to scoring 16 points in the quarter. Davis hit six of seven jumpers during one stretch, rebounding the only miss for a putback layup. Redick followed that with a driving layup and the Magic were within 31-28 with 7:04 left in the quarter. For all of that, however, the best the Magic could do was pull within 38-36 on Davis’ last 18-footer with 3:20 left in the quarter. Indiana, perhaps trying too hard to take advantage of the absence of Howard, constantly dribbled into traffic and turned the ball over 10 times in the half. Granger had four of the giveaways and Hiibbert and Hill two each. Still, the Pacers were good enough when they took care of the ball to shoot 52.9 percent (18 of 34) and build a 44-38 halftime advantage. NOTES: Indiana led by as many as 29 in the second half. The Magic never led in the game. … Indiana has won six straight road games, dating back to the regular season. … Orlando had beaten Indiana four straight times at home during playoff games. Indiana C Roy Hibbert has 14 blocks in three playoff games. Ten of the blocks have been against Magic C Glen Davis. … The Magic are in the playoffs for the sixth straight season, the longest active streak in the Eastern Conference.

In this series, the Magic have done just fine when they’ve matched the Pacers’ energy. But that turned in Game 2′s crucial third quarter, when Indiana beat Orlando to every loose ball, corralling 15 of the first 16 rebounds of the period and scored 13 second-chance points to Orlando’s two.

The Magic must sustain their intensity, and they need to draw energy from their home crowd. (Of course, that begs the question whether the typically disengaged home crowd, particularly the fans in the lower bowl, can provide much noise, but that’s another issue entirely.)

2. Help on West The Magic’s halfcourt defense has been surprisingly solid so far in this series, but one area of concern revolves around the Pacers’ rugged power forward, David West.

West enjoys a distinct advantage when he posts up against Ryan Anderson. The Magic are going to have to give Anderson some help here, perhaps with point guards and wings ducking in on post-ups.

3. Ball movement Pacers coach Frank Vogel has told his players repeatedly that they cannot allow uncontested 3s. If the Magic make contested 3s, fine, but Vogel has emphasized the importance of guarding the 3-point line and closing out quickly. Orlando players will have to maintain their ball movement, finding open perimeter shooters on the weak side, in order to provide an extra split second to square up for 3s.

4. Get back The Pacers want to push the ball at every opportunity in transition, and they did that to devastating effect in Game 2, scoring 22 fastbreak points to the Magic’s two.

The Magic must do a much better job of getting back on defense, especially when their perimeter shooters miss long shots. In order to get back quickly, the Magic may need to be more selective in their attempts to secure offensive rebounds.

5. Sharpen the pick-and-roll Indiana’s height has caused significant problems, especially when Jameer Nelson has attempted to attack the rim. According to Synergy Sports Technology, the Magic went just 2-for-17 in Game 2 on shot attempts by the ball handler off pick-and-rolls.

Those misses weren’t all by Nelson, of course, but the diminutive point guard obviously faces a challenge when he penetrates into the lane and finds 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert there, as Van Gundy noted after Monday’s defeat. Somehow, Magic coaches are going to have to find a way to give Nelson and his teammates some more space on the inside.

Follow Josh Robbins on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.

What do the Orlando Magic need to do to win Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers?

Here are five areas:

1. Sustain the intensity
Ever since Dwight Howard went down with a herniated disk, Stan Van Gundy has said his team has almost no margin for error. Van Gundy is correct. The Magic can’t afford to play with less energy than the Pacers in this series; the Pacers simply have more size, more athleticism and more depth.

In this series, the Magic have done just fine when they’ve matched the Pacers’ energy. But that turned in Game 2’s crucial third quarter, when Indiana beat Orlando to every loose ball, corralling 15 of the first 16 rebounds of the period and scored 13 second-chance points to Orlando’s two.

The Magic must sustain their intensity, and they need to draw energy from their home crowd. (Of course, that begs the question whether the typically disengaged home crowd, particularly the fans in the lower bowl, can provide much noise, but that’s another issue entirely.)

2. Help on West
The Magic’s halfcourt defense has been surprisingly solid so far in this series, but one area of concern revolves around the Pacers’ rugged power forward, David West.

West enjoys a distinct advantage when he posts up against Ryan Anderson. The Magic are going to have to give Anderson some help here, perhaps with point guards and wings ducking in on post-ups.

3. Ball movement
Pacers coach Frank Vogel has told his players repeatedly that they cannot allow uncontested 3s. If the Magic make contested 3s, fine, but Vogel has emphasized the importance of guarding the 3-point line and closing out quickly. Orlando players will have to maintain their ball movement, finding open perimeter shooters on the weak side, in order to provide an extra split second to square up for 3s.

4. Get back
The Pacers want to push the ball at every opportunity in transition, and they did that to devastating effect in Game 2, scoring 22 fastbreak points to the Magic’s two.

The Magic must do a much better job of getting back on defense, especially when their perimeter shooters miss long shots. In order to get back quickly, the Magic may need to be more selective in their attempts to secure offensive rebounds.

5. Sharpen the pick-and-roll
Indiana’s height has caused significant problems, especially when Jameer Nelson has attempted to attack the rim. According to Synergy Sports Technology, the Magic went just 2-for-17 in Game 2 on shot attempts by the ball handler off pick-and-rolls.

Those misses weren’t all by Nelson, of course, but the diminutive point guard obviously faces a challenge when he penetrates into the lane and finds 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert there, as Van Gundy noted after Monday’s defeat. Somehow, Magic coaches are going to have to find a way to give Nelson and his teammates some more space on the inside.

Follow Josh Robbins on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.