PHILADELPHIA – Back on Nov. 14, when Orlando and Philadelphia last played prior to Tuesday, the Magic seemed completely dead in the water a couple of times only to be rescued each instance by the stellar fourth-quarter shooting of Terrence Ross.
On Tuesday, when Ross missed his first game of the season because of a sore left Achilles tendon, there was no such shot-maker in the clutch to bail out a Magic squad that repeatedly got close but couldn’t get over the hump.
Orlando gamely rallied in the fourth period, wiping out much of a 12-point deficit and getting within one point of the Sixers with one with 1:50 to play. However, big shots by Jimmy Butler and Mike Scott – following Orlando’s defensive breakdowns – allowed the Sixers to escape with 114-106 defeat of the Magic at the Wells Fargo Center.
``It’s a mistake on my part, a big mistake on my part and it’s hard to say that, but it is,’’ Magic forward Aaron Gordon said of leaving Scott late in the game when Orlando was within three inside of the final minute. ``I was looking to invert the pick-and-roll so that when (Scott) came up to set the screen we could switch. But I can’t make that decision out there by myself. That’s an immature mistake, but I’m learning and growing, and I’ve just got to cut that out.’’
Orlando (30-36) lost for a second straight time when its defense badly struggled early in game and in decisive stretches of the fourth quarter. With the defeat, the Magic dropped from eighth to 10thin the Eastern Conference standings with Charlotte (29-34) and Miami (29-34) moving ahead of them. They have 16 games remaining to try and make up the ground.
Head coach Steve Clifford said the squad missed a huge chance to score a victory on Tuesday when another made shot or defensive stand could have made the difference. If the Magic are going to reach the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons, they are going to have to play their way in, Clifford insisted.
``We created shots that, if we’re going to win that game on the road, we’ve got to make them,’’ Clifford fumed. ``We had two wide-open threes, two shots right at the rim and two post-ups that you’ve got to score on with matchups we take every time. If we’re going to win these games – and this league is about a lot of things – shot-making is right at the top of the list – and those are shots that we’ve got to make.’’
The Magic found out about an hour prior to tipoff that Ross – who had nine points, three 3-pointers and the game-winner in that previous meeting against Philly – wouldn’t be available after he tested his sore Achilles’ tendon and still felt significant pain. Ross has enjoyed a career year, averaging personal bests in scoring (14.6), rebounds (3.4) and fourth-quarter scoring (5.3). His play has also been a big barometer for the Magic’s chances of success this season. In the Magic’s 30 wins, Ross has averaged 16.2 points a game while shooting 46.5 percent from the floor and 38.4 percent from 3-point range. However, in the 35 losses he’s appeared in, Ross’ numbers have dipped to 13.3 points a game and 39 percent shooting from the floor and 35.9 percent from 3-point range.
``Obviously, (not having Ross) is a big miss for us, but it is what it is and when you have a guy out, it’s next man up,’’ said all-star center Nikola Vucevic, who missed an open 3-point shot and a hook off deep post position after Orlando got within 101-99. ``If (Ross) was there, it would have been a huge boost for our bench unit. But the coaches did a good job of rotating the guys to make sure we always have five guys out there who could play together. Even without him, we still had a few chances, but we just couldn’t convert.’’
It also didn’t help that Vucevic – Orlando’s lone all-star over the past seven seasons – had a less than vintage night. The 7-foot center, who played his rookie season in Philadelphia and has a long history of playing well against the Sixers, figured to have another big night with Philadelphia missing three centers. However, he made just five of 15 shots and finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
``It was frustrating because I could have gotten better positions on those (Philadelphia defensive) switches when I was a little far from the basket,’’ Vucevic said. ``They did a good job on doubling, they were aggressive and tried to rush me and I didn’t take my time. I just have to be better with those decisions.’’
Despite being without superstar center Joel Embiid (sore left knee), the Sixers (41-23) shot 63.6 percent in the first quarter (with six 3-pointers), 61.4 percent through the first half and 47.2 percent in the game. Philadelphia made 11 of 28 3-point shots, led by J.J. Redick’s six of nine shooting from beyond the arc.
Orlando, which will be back home on Friday to face Dallas, poured a lot of energy into the game and stayed within striking distance thanks to big games from Evan Fournier (25 points) and Gordon (24 points). The Magic shot 45.2 percent from the floor with 13 pointers, but they struggled to convert in the tensest moments of the game when the score got tight.
Down 12 at the start of the fourth quarter, Orlando clawed to within 101-99 before missing four straight shots that either would have tied the game or put the Magic into the lead. Later, the Magic were within103-102 following a clutch 3-pointer by forward Jonathan Isaac (16 points and four 3-pointers), but Butler (13 points) responded with a jumper over Isaac. Following an Isaac miss, Scott sealed Orlando’s fate with a 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining to boost Philly’s lead back to 108-102. On the play, Gordon left Scott to help defensively and the Magic paid for the error.
``We had shots that normally we would make and when it comes down to it we had plenty of opportunities to take the lead and we just couldn’t get over that hump,’’ said Gordon, who was brilliant most of the night while making nine of 18 shots, grabbing nine rebounds and handing out three assists. ``There were a lot of things that we did well, but there were a lot of things that we can clean up and get better.’’
Former Magic standouts Tobias Harris (21 points, 12 rebounds and five assists), Jonathon Simmons (six points and four assists in 26 minutes) and Redick (26 points) carved up Orlando’s defense. All-star guard Ben Simmons, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, narrowly missed another triple-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Still steamed over how his team played in Sunday’s ugly loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Clifford said prior to tipoff that his Magic would have to make major improvements to have a shot of winning on Tuesday. Orlando got itself back into the playoff race by being dominant defensively. Some of that has slipped of late, Clifford said, because his team was ``exhausted’’ by playing six games in a 10-day stretch.
``Since Jan. 1, we’re top three defensively and 17thon offense. And, frankly, with our roster, that’s pretty good,’’ Clifford said. ``We’re not going to score 117 (points) every night. We just don’t have that kind of offense within our roster. What we can do every night is be a top-five defense. If we’re going to win in this stretch – regardless of where we play – that’s what has to happen. We didn’t have good defense to start the game the other night and as the game went on we didn’t fix it.’’
Trailing by six at the half, the Magic seemed to be on the verge of the game getting away from them as they fell behind by as much as 13 mid-way through the third. Orlando sliced that deficit nearly in half thanks to strong play from Gordon (23 points through three periods), but Philly closed the period with another serge and took a 94-82 edge into the fourth quarter.
The Magic trailed 70-64 at the half and, quite frankly, they were lucky to be that close considering how the Sixers repeatedly gashed them early on. Philadelphia shot 61.4 percent in the opening half and also drilled nine of 16 3-pointers when the Orlando helped too much on cutters.
Redick did plenty of damage against his former team in the early going. He made seven of 10 shots and five of six 3-pointers in the first half for 19 points. The performance was reminiscent of the first meeting of the season when Redick torched Orlando for 31 points, eight 3-pointers and a game-winning shot late in the night.
Clifford was upset with how the Magic played defensively and he said the improvement over the final 24 minutes was simply about effort. But, too often down the stretch, the Magic had defensive breakdowns and left elite shooters open. On a night when Ross didn’t play and Vucevic struggled, those defensive errors proved to be especially costly.
``In the second half we were better and in the first half we were terrible. Terrible,’’ Clifford said. ``(Scott’s) first eight points were pick-and-rolls and they were all mistakes. … We tried harder (in the second half). Everybody always says, `adjustments.’ Well, (former NBA coach) Jeff Van Gundy used to say all the time, `It’s usually that you tried harder, played smarter, played with more disciple and played with the game plan.’ That’s what we did – we tried harder.’’
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