Like Magic, Sixers Pull One Out

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As the scene shifts from Disney World to the City of self-proclaimed “Brotherly Love,’’ The script for Games 1 and 2 between the Sixers and Orlando Magic has been remarkably similar.

In both games the home Magic had assumed command early, expanded the margin into the high teens by the third quarter, then watched the upstart Sixers try to battle back. In Game One they succeeded, overcoming an 18-point deficit to pull off the upset on Andre Iguodala’s last ditch jumper.

Game Two was a different story, even with “Superman,’’ a.k.a Dwight Howard, missing critical minutes with foul trouble, before eventually fouling out. This time the Magic held it together, getting a spectacular 24-point effort from rookie Courtney Lee to claim a nine-point win and even the series.<

Game 3, then, would determine whether or not the Sixers could build off the crowd’s enthusiasm or it Orlando, who won 59 games during the season including twice here, could silence them. Consider if officially Bedlam City, after Thaddeus Young slipped along the baseline, eluded Howard’s smothering presence in the paint, then twisted home the 96-94 game winning layup with 2.0 seconds left.<

That gives Philadelphia a 2-1 series lead, which they’ll try to expand when they resume here Sunday. While it was Young who dropped home the decisive shot, most of the offense was shared by the Andres—Iguodala and Miller—who hit for 29 and 24 points respectively, with Willie Green added 12. Howard’s 31 topped the Magic, who again struggled with their 3-point .shooting, going just __ beyond the arc.<


When the Magic found themselves staring at a 17-point deficit midway through the third period it was deju vu—all over again. Seemingly out of it Orlando surged to life, erasing all but three of those points by the end of the period.

The comeback continued into the fourth as the Magic drew even. There the Sixers, much maligned for their defensive lapses during the season,. threw a blanket over Howard and the other Magic shooters, before the big man ignored a wave of Thundersticks to hit two clutch free throws and tie the game with 6.9 seconds left.

But only until Young worked himself free along the baseline to take Miller’s inbounds pass, then come up with biggest basket of his young career,
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The Sixers tried to feel off the early energy of the crowd, who were handed white T-shirts as they entered the building. They proceeded to knock down their first five shots to take a 10-8 lead. It see-sawed after that until Green and Iguodala ignited an 8-2 Sixers’ spurt that pushed it to 23-17.

Then it was Miller’s turn, as he drove twice to the hoop for layups, keeping the Sixers up, 27-21 at the quarter.<

It grew to 34-25 when veteran Donyell Marshall got free for a dunk, then Lou Williams drove coast-to-coast. Later a pair of Reggie Evans free throws further extended the margin to 38-27, the Magic already in the penalty.<

The Sixers quickly tried to exploit that, then set up Marshall for a three-ball, making it 43-31. Moments later, though, Samuel Dalembert, playing his best game of the series, set a moving pick for his third personal. In came backup Theo Ratliff, who
promptly slammed one home off an Iguodala pass.<

With the Sixers threatening to break it open, back came the Magic, getting 3-pointers from Turkoglu and Lee to narrow the gap to 48-41. But Philadelphia didn’t panic, continuing to run its offense and swarm the Magic on the defensive end, as they restored the lead to 60-49 when Miller beat the buzzer.<

Not content with that, Philadelphia picked up where it left off to start the third, Iguodala draining a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer, followed by Green’s hoop to give them their biggest advantage, 65-49. Not for long, as Green pumped in another 20-footer, making it 72-55.<

Orlando then smothered Iguodala on the wing, who could do nothing but turn and let a prayer fly. It was answered, as the house erupted. The Magic, meanwhile had no success get the ball to their usually deadly 3-point shooters, yet remained within striking distance, thanks to Howard’s unlikely success at the line. <

Without warning Orlando proceeded to go on a 13-0 run capped by back-to-back Mikael Pietrus’ treys to close within 76-74. Miller finally broke the spell and the teams traded basket from there, the Sixers heading to the fourth clinging to an 80-77 lead.

Six minutes later it remained three points, before Lewis buried his second 3-pointer of the night to finally tie it, 86-86. The defenses tightened up at both ends, here, Iguodala’s free throws the only scoring until Williams scored on the break. Iguodala followed that up with a 15-footer to make it 92-86 with 2:39 remaining. <

Howard responded by throwing down a Turkoglu miss, ending a 4: 23 drought.
Lewis made it a 92-91 game, hitting beyond the arc, as the clock dipped inside 2:00. But Green hit a tough shot on the run to preserve a 94-91 edge. The Sixers then missed a chance to add to that when Iguodala bricked two free throws.<

Howard countered by sinking one of two, before Miller missed in traffic, Orlando rebounding and calling its final timeout with 7.4 seconds left. They went inside to Howard who was fouled and hit both to tie at 6.9 seconds, giving the Sixers the ball with a chance to win.

Young did precisely that, and for the second year in a row Philadelphia had the upper hand on its heavily favored opponent heading into Game 4.