By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to rebound after losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night. They faced an Orlando Magic team that was looking to extend Philly’s losing skid. The Sixers were able to ride a second-half offensive explosion to close the curtain on Orlando 101-96.

It started out well for Philly they were able to hit some early shots to get out to an 11-point lead early in the first quarter. They were powered by guard Seth Curry who scored 16 of his 24-points by half-time. It did not matter who Orlando put on him he made them pay for daring to give him any space. He was hitting shots from the three-point line, the perimeter, and the paint. Philly needed every point from Curry to keep the Magic at bay. He was in a scoring slump the last few games, but tonight he was unlocked. Philly will continue to rely on him as they try to work Joel Embiid back in after missing 10 games because of  testing positive for Covid-19.

Despite Curry’s offensive explosion, the Magic weathered the storm. They exploded in the second-half as they were able to score 35-points in the third quarter. They took full advantage of a power outage by the Sixers. They could not hit anything because the Magic switched to a two-three zone and once again Philly acted like they never have seen one this season. The Magic took full advantage as they were able to get some easy lay-ups and three-point shots. They were able to retake the lead. Orlando was powered by Franz Wagner who scored 27-points and did not look like a rookie. He was able to get whatever he wanted from the field. It did not matter who the Sixers put on him. He made them pay for any space they gave him.

Philly was able to weather the storm through turning the heat up on the defensive end. They were able to force the Magic into some difficult jump shots. That gave the Sixers enough wiggle room for Curry to hit a late three-pointer and for Embiid to hit some late free-throw shots to seal the game for Philly.

On where the team is this early in the season, “We’re in a decent spot considering (all of the injuries and COCID issues). Now that everybody’s back, we got to figure out how to get back to playing dominant basketball,” said Curry.

The Sixers earned this victory and now will prepare for a Wednesday night match-up against the Boston Celtics. They will need to have another solid night on the defensive end if they want to stifle  Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Additionally they will have to find a way to maintain some offensive consistency if they want to get their 12^th victory of the season.