Orlando Magic Grades: Philadelphia 76ers 96, Orlando Magic 87
The Orlando Magic had everything in line for a golden opportunity at a win. Their own poor and disappointing play cost them against a suddenly hot Sixers.
The Orlando Magic knew they needed a good performance to right the ship. The standings said they had the perfect opponent on their home floor to get a win at the very least. They had the start and the energy early to get themselves the lead.
Then it all fell out. The Magic looked lifeless and made constant frustration and mental errors. The Philadelphia 76ers pounced, pressuring and hounding the Magic deeper into their spiral of defeat.
Orlando has lost eight of its past nine games and none felt worse than this one to Philadelphia at Amway Center. The offense was lifeless and the defense was left pointing fingers largely at each other or late on rotations defensively.
In any case, the supposedly tanking Philadelphia 76ers were clearly better than the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
And a night to right ship quickly became a night that provided more questions and concerns than answers.