ORLANDO, Fla. – As expected, the ball was in James Harden’s hands as the overtime clock wound down. And then, as expected, Joel Embiid’s. Then it found Tobias Harris in the corner, where the oft-maligned 76er let it fly.
That go-ahead long ball with 31.7 seconds remaining in overtime ultimately proved to be the game-winner Sunday night, lifting the Sixers to a 116-114 squeaker at the Amway Center.
This should have been a prime opportunity for a get-right game for the Sixers after getting blasted by 29 points by the Brooklyn Nets in an emotionally charged Thursday night game at the Wells Fargo Center. Instead, the Sixers again sputtered out of the gate against an Eastern Conference bottom-dweller, clawed back from 17 points down to tie the game about midway through the third quarter and then needed an extra five minutes to head home with the victory.
And even that looked in doubt with less than two minutes to play in overtime, when Cole Anthony sank back-to-back three-pointers to give the Magic a 113-109 lead. But Harden answered with a driving layup that rolled around and in, before Harris’ go-ahead bomb.
On the Magic’s ensuing possession, Matisse Thybulle was initially called for a foul on a shot attempt by Anthony, but the call was overturned on a coach’s challenge by Doc Rivers. After Maxey went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to put the Sixers up 115-113, Magic rookie Franz Wagner also went 1-of-2 from the stripe. Then Harden went 1-of-2 on his foul shots, before Anthony missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Sixers had a chance to win the game on their final possession of regulation. But Harden missed a driving layup, Embiid could not convert the follow and, after the ball was knocked out of bounds by the Magic and Embiid was swarmed on the ensuing inbounds pass, Maxey missed a three-pointer from the right wing with 1.3 seconds to play.
The Sixers made their first push with a 16-4 run after halftime, during which they held the Magic without a field goal for nearly seven minutes of game action. Embiid finally caught some rhythm during that stretch, with a putback that cut Orlando’s lead to 60-58 with about seven minutes to play, a jumper that got the Sixers within 61-60 midway through the period, and the free throws that tied the score at 63 with less than five minutes to play.
Orlando then rebuilt a 10-point advantage when a three-pointer by former Sixer Markelle Fultz made the score 88-78 early in the fourth, before the Sixers charged again.
They took a 101-98 led — and briefly turned the Magic’s home arena into the Wells Fargo Center South — when Harden and Embiid buried back-to-back three-pointers with less than five minutes to play. Then, neither team created separation in regulation.
Embiid labored his way to 35 points on 9-of-28 shooting and 15-of-17 from the free-throw line (including two late misses that would have given the Sixers a two-point lead), to go along with 16 rebounds and 7 assists. Harden also struggled with his shot for the second consecutive game until late, going 5-of-19 from the floor but 13-of-15 from the free-throw line to finish with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Next, the Sixers will face a week’s worth of playoff-caliber opponents, starting with Monday’s home game against the Denver Nuggets and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic. Then, they’ll play at Cleveland Wednesday before hosting the Dallas Mavericks Friday, the Toronto Raptors Sunday and the East-leading Miami Heat next Monday.
Another slow start
Slow starts are becoming a trend since Harden joined the Sixers. They again struggled on both ends of the floor in the first half, allowing Orlando to shoot 53.7% while making just 33.3% of its field-goal attempts (including 4-of-15 from three-point range). A Wendell Carter Jr. three-pointer with about three minutes remaining in the second quarter pushed the Magic’s lead to 57-40.
Offensively, Harris kept the Sixers relatively afloat with his best game since the Harden trade, sparked by some deliberate early looks. He scored 15 of his 26 points in the first half on 6-of-10 shooting. But Embiid started the game 3-of-14, while Harden missed six of his first seven shots and Maxey began the game a quiet 2-of-6.
The Sixers have proved they can claw back from double-digit deficits against the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and, now, the Magic. But they could not complete the rally against the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets within the past two weeks, and that will be much tougher during the playoffs.
Familiar faces
Sixers fans again made their presence heard inside the Amway Center. That included a smattering of boos that rippled through the stands when former Sixers No. 1 overall draft pick Fultz checked in for the first time about midway through the first quarter, and while he shot free throws a few minutes later.
Fultz, however, was terrific in his role, finishing with 8 points, 11 assists, and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes.
He hit a pull-up jumper with about four minutes to play in the first, then dished to Gary Harris for a three-pointer that put the Magic up 26-22. Early in the second, he swiped the ball from Harden and found Mo Wagner wide-open on the other end of the court for an easy dunk.
Fultz was booed again when he re-entered midway through the third quarter, but quickly found Bamba for a finish at the rim and then got to the basket for a go-ahead reverse layup. Later, he bounced a pass to Bamba in the corner for a three-pointer, found R.J. Hampton for a shot beyond the arc and then buried his own three to give the Magic an 88-78 lead with about 10 minutes to play.
Another man with connections to both teams received a much warmer reception. Jameer Nelson, who helped the Magic reach the NBA Finals during his playing career and is now the assistant general manager of the Sixers’ G League affiliate Delaware Blue Coats, was on-site for the game and got a video-board shout-out during a first-quarter timeout.
Rotation notes
Rivers continues to tinker with his stretch-run rotation. He went with a nine-man group during Sunday’s meaningful minutes, including Isaiah Joe (3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal in 13 minutes) playing over Furkan Korkmaz.
Additionally, Georges Niang (16 points, 4 rebounds, 36 minutes) closed the second quarter with the rest of the starters over Thybulle (0 points on 0-of-4 shooting) and played the bulk of crunch time until Thybulle briefly re-entered as a defensive sub near the end of regulation. Niang started overtime with the rest of the first group, before Thybulle returned with about 90 seconds to play in the frame.
The Sixers play the second leg of a road-home back-to-back set Monday against Denver.
