Orlando Magic hang on to beat Philadelphia 76ers 105-97
By Zach Palmer
On their fourth game in five nights and on the second night of a back to back the Orlando Magic found a way to hold onto a win against a hungry 76ers team.
38. Final. 97. 93. 105
Was this game Pretty?
No.
Did the Orlando Magic show loads of perseverance in holding onto the 105-97 win at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday?
Yes.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando | 105 | 108.7 | 50.6 | 26.3 | 13.5 | 28.9 |
| Philadelphia | 97 | 98.5 | 51.9 | 24.4 | 17.3 | 32.5 |
Elfrid Payton (ORL) — 20 pts.; Dewayne Dedmon (ORL) — 12 pts., 9 rebs.
Isaiah Canaan (PHI) — 23 pts.; Jahlil Okafor (PHI) — 19 pts., 5 rebs.
Early on, the Magic and Philadelphia 76ers played a fairly intolerable brand of basketball. Both teams turned the ball over pretty consistently and the only pretty basketball was being played by Jahlil Okafor in the post.
Okafor displayed a wide array of post moves and took Dewayne Dedmon‘s lunch early. Fortunately for the Magic the 76ers took out Okafor early to get him a breather and it allowed the Magic to take control of the game.
Philadelphia fought back behind a barrage of 3-pointers from Nik Stauskas and Isaiah Canaan however that momentum did not last. Scott Skiles called a timeout with 2:45 left in the second quarter and the Magic never looked back.
In the third quarter, the game got chippy as Jason Smith threw an elbow into Nerlens Noel‘s chest, prompting Noel to smack Jason Smith in the back of the head with his arm. After some deliberation, the officials ejected Noel with a flagrant two, while Smith was just charged with an offensive foul.
A night after sitting out the entire fourth quarter, Elfrid Payton came up huge in the fourth quarter for the Magic. Payton scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter including going 4 of 4 from the free throw line.
Payton was easily able to drive past 76ers guards Phil Pressey and T.J. McConnell. Without Noel’s presence in the paint, Payton continually put his head down with excellent results.
Hopefully, this gives Payton some confidence and rhythm going forward.
More important for the Magic, it was a third win in the past four games — all on this four-games-in-five-nights set.
Game Notes:
- The Magic rebounding issues continued tonight. The 76ers got a bunch of second chances thanks to Orlando’s inability to rebound after their big man contests a shot. Philadelphia grabbed 10 offensive rebounds, but failed to take advantage with just nine second-chance points.
- The Magic bench is significantly better this season. The second unit scored 32 points and provided nice energy once again.
- Mario Hezonja played a good overall game. Hezonja played with a lot more confidence tonight and it really helped his decision-making process.
- Watching this game in the fourth quarter, I am not sure how much longer the Magic can continue to sit Aaron Gordon. Tobias Harris looked dreadful at points tonight. Fatigue may be part of it but his lack of rebounding and defense is really hurting the Magic late.
- Victor Oladipo has got to do better at the rim. This has been a theme throughout his career but it is becoming more and more of a burden to the Magic offense. You can’t get easy looks and fail to convert. He made just 6 of 18 shots overall and 4 of 10 at the rim.
- As badly as Dewayne Dedmon was beat early by Jahlil Okafor he rebounded well in the second half. Dedmon seemed angry by his poor play in the first half and took it out on Okafor.