Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors.
By John Denton
Jan. 20, 2016
ORLANDO – Losing to the Philadelphia 76ers isn’t the embarrassment it would have been in years past considering their recent return to respectability, but the manner in which it happened on Wednesday for the Orlando Magic is still plenty alarming considering the squad’s pressing need to get its season back on track.
Looking to snap out of a skid that has threatened to undo all the good from a feel-good 19-13 start to the season, the Magic inexplicably took another step backward on Wednesday.
Orlando lost leads late in the first and second quarters, benched its starters following a poor start to the second half and could ever overtake the 38-loss 76ers in the fourth quarter a frustrating 96-87 loss at the Amway Center.
The Magic (20-21), the defeat was their eighth in the last nine games. Despite facing the raw and inexperienced 76ers (6-38), Orlando never led after halftime and found themselves in a 14-point hole at one point. Orlando tried mounting a face-saving rally, but it got no closer than four points down the stretch because of big shots from Philly guard Isaiah Canaan (15 points).
Magic head coach Scott Skiles contemplated a change to his starting lineup before the game, but chose to stick with his same rotation on Wednesday. Instead, he benched the entire group early in the third period. Not even that lit a fire under the struggling Magic.
Point guard Elfrid Payton scored 21 points, handed out 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds. Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic scored 15 points each.
Magic rookie Mario Hezonja scored nine points – all of them coming in the first half.
Former Magic point guard Ish Smith, who has led Philly to five wins in the past 13 games, had 13 points and 11 assists. Rookie center Jahlil Okafor battered the Magic on the low block for 20 points, while reserve forward Hollis Thompson scored 17 on seven-of-10 shooting.
The Magic shot just 39.3 percent from the floor, missed 13 of their 17 3-point shots and misfired on nine free throw attempts.
Philadelphia carved up the Magic for 48.6 percent shooting and nine 3-pointers.
Orlando was playing its first game at the Amway Center since Jan. 9. Technically, last week’s Global Games showdown against Toronto was a Magic home game even though it was played in London’s O2 Arena. The Magic will be back at home on Friday night when they host the Charlotte Hornets – a team that they whipped in Orlando in December.
The Magic were without standout guard Victor Oladipo for a second consecutive game because of a sprained knee. Oladipo suffered the injury on Thursday while taking a charge near the end of the OT loss to Toronto. Oladipo was playing his best basketball of the season at the time of the injury – 20.4 points and 60 percent 3-point shooting in the previous five games – and there is no definitive timetable for his return.
Down one at the break, the third quarter proved disastrous for the Magic. After the Magic surrendered a 9-0 run early in the third period, Skiles benched the starting five in favor of Keith Appling, Devyn Marble, Jason Smith, Aaron Gordon and Dewayne Dedmon. Things didn’t improve much and Orlando found itself trailing 81-71 by the end of the third quarter.
Orlando turned the ball over seven times in the third quarter and was outscored 33-25 in the period.
The Magic trailed at the end of the first quarter (23-21) and at halftime (47-46) – something that was especially frustrating considering that they squandered two sizeable leads.
Up 20-10 following a strong start to the game, Orlando allowed Philly to close the first quarter with a 13-1 run. It was reminiscent of last Thursday in London when Orlando’s reserves struggled and the Raptors used the final minutes of the first quarter to grab a lead they would never give up.
Orlando led by as much as five in the second period only to see the Sixers finish strong again to re-take the lead by halftime.
With Oladipo out, it has finally opened up some playing time for Hezonja. The rookie struggled mightily in his first extended minutes on Monday, missing 10 of his first 11 shots. But on Wednesday, he ran the floor hard and was rewarded with a couple of throw-ahead passes by Payton (11 points and five assists in the first half). Hezonja made his first three shots – two of them on dunks – got to the line three times and gave the Magic nine points in 13 first-half minutes.
Vucevic scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds early on, but he had his hands full on the other end of the floor as Okafor battered him with a variety of low-post moves. The rookie center made seven of his first 10 tries for 14 first-half points.
