Orlando Magic Grades: Orlando Magic 103, Philadelphia 76ers 101

The Orlando Magic recorded their first win of the season, making a come-from-behind effort against the Philadelphia 76ers on the road.

VS.

	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.

Serge Ibaka has had an inconsistent start to his career with the Orlando Magic. Perhaps some of it is the lingering effects of his knee injury suffered during training camp. Ibaka has not looked like himself as his defense has been poor and his rim protection even worse. Saturday showed some signs of life.Tuesday’s game again showed more signs of life. Ibaka played a big role in the Magic’s comeback. When he was engaged and active around the basket, the Magic were much better offensively. Ibaka proved himself again and again with big play after big play. On both ends.Ibaka scored 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting with four rebounds and two blocks. This is more the stat line the Magic were expected from Ibaka. The Magic had a 93.9 defensive rating with Ibaka on the floor.He was not strong the entire night. He struggled a lot with the stretch-4s the 76ers employed. And there were moments where Ibaka still looked a step slow.But overall, this was a good game from Ibaka. Perhaps his best in his short time in a Magic uniform. . F/C. Orlando Magic. SERGE IBAKA. B

PG. Orlando Magic. ELFRID PAYTON. B+. Time and time again, Elfrid Payton is the key to the Orlando Magic’s success. When he plays well, the Magic are a good team. When he struggles, the holes become overly apparent.On offense, Payton was good more often than not, as he has been throughout the season. Payton finished with 18 points and 10 assists on 8-for-17 shooting. He was aggressive trying to get into the lane and distributed the ball well. He made the Sixers defense collapse, even as they packed the paint.Defensively remains more of a mixed bag. There were plenty of plays where Payton made a great defensive play. His quick hands helped deflect passes and disrupt the defense.Then again, Payton still had trouble navigating screens. <a rel=

Nikola Vucevic is still the best scorer on this team. He scored 24 points on 11-for-16 shooting. he added 14 rebounds and was a +21 on the night. Vucevic, for all his flaws, still can pour in points and do a lot of good things on the floor.Even going up against Joel Embiid, Vucevic was able to get the best of the rookie. Certainly Embiid had his moments. He blocked a late hook shot on Vucevic as Vucevic tried to iso him and was able to outmuscle Vucevic late in the game too.But Vucevic was typically in good position. He continues to look better defensively (although he still has plenty of shortcomings). And Vucevic continues to be the Magic’s rock offensively. He was a big reason why the Magic were able to stay in this game and eventually pull out the win.. C. Orlando Magic. NIKOLA VUCEVIC. A-

It is easy to hate on <a rel=. F. Orlando Magic. JEFF GREEN. D

14th East. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS. B+. The Philadelphia 76ers played an incredibly strong game. . . until the final moments of the game. The 76ers still have to learn how to win games. But what they are building is more than promising. And once again the Sixers play hard for coach Brett Brown.Joel Embiid is every bit worth the hype. He scored 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with four blocks. Dario Saric broke out of his slump to score 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting and a 70 percent effective field goal percentage. Philadelphia hit 9 of 21 3-pointers for the game and did a good job moving the ball to get open shots when the Magic defense collapsed.Philadelphia played hard and moved the ball incredibly well. This is a much improved team and a much improved roster. The 76er played hard and played well. But they could not muster enough offense or stops to win. That is the sign of a young team.. 0-3