The Orlando Magic recorded their first win of the season, making a come-from-behind effort against the Philadelphia 76ers on the road.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Magic | 24 | 19 | 41 | 19 | 103 |
| 76ers | 29 | 28 | 30 | 14 | 101 |
It took forever to click. And even when it finally did click, it was unclear if it would be enough. The Philadelphia 76ers found their way get through the cracks in the Magic. Orlando was desperately trying to hang around seemingly from the opening tip.
If there was a sign things can still work for the Magic that things are not as dire as they seemed through parts of the Magic’s 103-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center, it was in the finish.
That is where Nikola Vucevic contested a Dario Saric shot along the baseline and helped collect the rebound, setting up Evan Fournier‘s runner to tie the game. That is where Elfrid Payton had a timely dig to free the ball from Joel Embiid. That is where the Magic nearly botched the execution on the next play only to see the ball roll to Serge Ibaka where he was fouled hard by T.J. McConnell for a flagrant foul.
Ibaka made both free throws. The Magic led for 21 seconds. Only 1.2 of them mattered for them.
Orlando looked lost as ever, falling behind 10-0 off the bat and by as much as 18 points in the game. The Magic fought back time and time again. Their defense snapped to attention and gave the Magic a chance.
They hit their first 11 shots in a 41-point third quarter to get back into the game. And even as they missed some shots in the fourth quarter, they found a way to keep fighting and stay in the game. Until finally they broke through. Until finally they had the lead and the final buzzer sounded.
For sure, the full 48 minutes was not pretty. Questions remain for the Magic. Big questions.
But the Magic fought hard. They dug down deep and figured out how to do what they need to do to get a win. The question is now whether they can repeat that process.