Now, fast forward to Wednesday when the rested and healthy Magic took apart the much-improved Sixers with a scintillating shooting night from all corners of the Amway Center.
Facing a Philadelphia team that had allowed 100 points just once in the past 13 starts, the Magic shot 53 percent from the floor, made 15 3-pointers and got a career-best assist effort from Nelson in a 103-87 beatdown of the Sixers.
Nelson tied a career high with 14 assists – with 10 of them resulting in 3-pointers for the suddenly surging Magic, 19-11 and winners of three straight games. In fact, Orlando has won seven of nine games since an ugly 74-69 loss to Philadelphia back on Jan. 30 and both of those losses were in overtime efforts.
``This team looks to me for energy a lot of times and we’re playing harder and with a lot more focus now,’’ said Nelson, who also had 12 points to go with his 14 assists and he made life miserable for Philly’s Jrue Holiday (1 of 8 shooting). ``We’re a team that’s trying to get better every day. We’ve been playing with more energy lately and a lot of that starts with me.’’
Of Nelson’s 14 assists, 10 led to 3-pointers (30 pointers) and four led to two-point baskets (eight points). Factoring in the 12 points that Nelson scored himself he accounted for 50 of Orlando’s 103 points. The Magic were plus-19 in Nelson’s 29 minutes on the floor.
Philadelphia (20-10) made a brief run in the third quarter, but never had a chance against a Magic team that started the game by blowing out to a 26-8 lead. And the Magic again pulled away late because of the shooting by Ryan Anderson (27 points and seven 3-pointers), Jason Richardson (14 points, four 3-pointers) and Dwight Howard (17 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks).
It was the second consecutive game that the Magic have had at least five players in double figures in scoring. They are 11-2 this season when that happens.
``That’s when we play the best – when the ball is moving, everybody is active and everybody is involved. That’s the way we can play,’’ said Anderson, who was officially named as a participant in the Foot Locker 3-Point Shootout earlier in the day and then hammered the Sixers for seven of 10 from beyond the arc. ``We just have so many weapons on this team. We just moved the ball really well and played great.’’
Here is a look at some of the key moments from Wednesday’s game at the Amway Center:
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MAGICAL MOMENTS