Orlando Magic offense holds off Philadelphia 76ers again

Like on Tuesday night, the Orlando Magic got a lot of offense. This time they bullied the Philadelphia 76ers before holding off a furious rally for a win.

From the opening tip, this was the Orlando Magic’s game. One they desperately needed and needed to win big.

Nikola Vucevic tipped the ball into the backcourt to Mario Hezonja who flew in for a dunk just six seconds into the game. The magic’s offense was off and running to an 11-0 start and making the Philadelphia 76ers look every bit what the standings say they are — the worst team in the league.

The points would keep coming — 77 of them alone in the first half — and there was little resistance.

Want an Aaron Gordon 3-pointer? Done. Victor Oladipo getting to the basket? Done. Nikola Vucevic deep post position? Done. Mario Hezonja coming around a curl for a jumper? Done.

It was a lot of offense and the spigot seemed to be constantly running.

Of course, every NBA team has a run. Even the Philadelphia 76ers. They cut the once-29-point lead to single digits in the fourth quarter and tearing up the Magic and their often struggling defense. It was concerning and a warning sign for the important games ahead.

But this would not be Philadelphia’s game to hang around. The Magic buried their confidence before they could get things started and had a large enough lead to coast uncomfortably to a 130-116 win at Amway Center on Sunday.

Jahlil Okafor (PHI) — 26 pts.; Jerami Grant (PHI) — 13 pts., 8 rebs.
Nikola Vucevic (ORL) — 28 pts., 6 rebs.; Victor Oladipo (ORL) — 28 pts.

“I think we got a little complacent,” Aaron Gordon said. “We were up a lot. And we just sort of relaxed. It’s one of the things that we need to get better at is playing with a lead and being consistent on defense regardless of how the offense is going. It’s something we need to work on and it will be better by Dallas [on Tuesday].”

The Magic shot 57.0 percent for the game and hit on 22 of 25 free throws. They were able to get out in transition and flow through their offense smoothly for much of the game. The Sixers offered very little resistance.

That can lull a team to sleep and as Philadelphia picked up its energy, Orlando’s pace slowed. The defense largely could not keep the Sixers in front of them again and bailed out the 76ers with fouls. Every NBA team has a run and the Magic, forced to slow the pace down, got into their offense later and later and had to force poor shots late in the shot clock.

If not, Philadelphia was able to run it back at Orlando and increase its easy shot opportunities. The 76ers scored 65 points in the second half, took 21 free throws and committed just six turnovers.

They turned the game around with a press that slowed the Magic to a crawl and helped the 76ers slowly creep back into the game. The Magic gave up nine turnovers for 18 76ers points in the second half.

“We kept talking about keeping the pace up,” coach Scott Skiles said. “We didn’t stop them very much tonight, but when we did during that stretch in the third and early fourth quarter, they weren’t trapping us when we were getting stops. We just had no thrust coming up the floor. We just kind of came to a halt. We were waiting for EP to bring it up slowly where in the first half we had a nice thrust up the floor, played with a nice pace and were able to get some easy baskets.”

Like in Tuesday’s matchup between these teams, neither seemed particularly interested in playing defense. Orlando had some wide, wide open looks from three and drained them with ease, making six of nine in the first half and 10 of 16 for the game.

Unlike Tuesday, Philadelphia could not buy a bucket form long range with just five makes in 22 attempts.

Orlando’s defense was lax, but not completely devoid of anything positive. The Magic forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 31 points. They were trying to double hard on the post and sending help recklessly to do so. That created turnovers and opportunities for run outs for a team looking for an advantage and looking to attack.

The Magic’s aggression on offense helped them build a lead against a Sixers team Brett Brown even said was playing embarrassingly through the first half.

It was clear they would step things up in the second half. And the Magic would again have to learn how to hang on.

Orlando was able to withstand some early runs from Philadelphia after building up the lead, but struggled to close the third quarter. Those struggles leached into the fourth as the team was bogged down in its offense and unable to find the rhythm it had earlier.

As Philadelphia cut the lead to single digits, Orlando needed some poise. It reloaded with its starting lineup and needed a spark from someone after Nikola Vucevic fouled out with just less than four minutes to play.

Elfrid Payton proved to be that spark, getting into the paint and finding that spark the Magic were missing. He scored seven of his 11 points in the final three minutes of the game, helping get the lead back to double digits and hold off any late epic rallies.

That kind of calm was needed to close the game, even if it was not by the margin the Magic hoped for after the strong start.

“Just as a leader, it may not be shots, but just making sure we get good looks at the rim,” Payton said. “Not just for me, but for my teammates. I think that is going to help us these next couple games.”

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Payton’s assists have been up lately as he recorded 11 in the Sunday’s game. He had plenty of help with seven players in double figures including 28 points each from Nikola Vucevic and Victor Oladipo. Aaron Gordon scored a career-high 22 points and provided great energy throughout the game and especially as the Magic built their lead in the first half.

All that is well and good. It will still take defense to finish these games out and take a step forward against teams other than the 76ers.

The offense is clearly not always going to be there and the Magic have to buckle down on defense. Even in a win, the team seemed to recognize this.

“It’s just a matter of doing it,” Gordon said. “We have everything there that we need to, we have the tools, we have the principles. It’s about effort. That’s something we need to bring to the game and need to bring all game long. Really, it’s more about talking about effort in the locker than anything.”