By Danny Morales
Photo Credit: Danny Morales
Jameer Nelson had 24 points and 10 assists to help the Magic grab a victory at home before facing the Lakers on Tuesday.
ORLANDO — Jameer Nelson had a double-double with 24 points and 10 assists as the Orlando Magic defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 99-91 on Sunday, March 10 in front of 16,317 fans at the Amway Center.
Nelson finished the game shooting 5-9 from behind the three point line, while veteran Al Harrington went 2-6 from behind the line coming off of the Magic bench.
“Those always help,” said Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn. “When you make a few threes, defense tends to overreact to penetration a little bit and you can get good post-up position as well.”
“We had some timely shots,” added Vaughn. “So the three ball helped us in various areas tonight.”
Nikola Vucevic also had a double-double on Sunday with his 14 point and 17 rebound performance against the Sixers.
Thaddeus Young led all scorers with 26 points, while adding 12 rebounds for Philadelphia.
The Magic trailed by as many as 10 points in the first quarter, but Orlando used a 10-0 run midway through the opening quarter, which was capped off by an Al Harrington three-pointer, to tie the game at 24-24 with 2:28 remaining in the quarter.
“We’ve come back in all these games that we’ve been close.” said Tobias Harris about Sunday’s win. “That’s important, that shows a 10 point lead can easily be broken. So as a team that we’re mentally focused out there and we want to win games.”
Orlando used a 14-4 run in the second quarter to take a 46-42 lead over Philadelphia with 4:25 remaining in the first half. The Magic went into the locker room at halftime leading the Sixers 56-51, while also outshooting Philadelphia 54.3% – 51.2% from the floor during the first half.
Tobias Harris had eight points in the second quarter, helping the Magic outscore the 76ers 28-21 during the final half of the first quarter. Harris finished the game with 15 points and seven rebounds in his second start since being traded to Orlando.
“I thought overall his approach was pretty good.” said Vaughn about Harris’ play on Sunday. “I thought he was part of that unit that got us back in the game a little bit in the second half; which got us a lead at halftime.”
The 76ers started the second half by outscoring the Magic 17-7 during the first six minutes, taking a 68-63 lead over Orlando before Vaughn called a timeout with 5:42 remaining in the third quarter.
“We didn’t make shots and some things didn’t go our way,” said Vaughn after the game. “But defensively we hold them to 40 points in the second half. That will give you a chance to win. Every single night that will give you a chance to win.”
The Magic started the fourth quarter leading the Sixers 73-72. Orlando finished the game on a 11-3 run, as they clinched their 18th victory of the season after Jameer Nelson hit a jumper with 32 seconds left to play.
“It felt good to get a win.” said Vucevic after the game. “We haven’t had a lot of them this year but played well tonight, played hard, got stops and got a win.”
With the win Orlando’s record improves to 18-46 and it snaps a season-high seven-game losing streak at home.
The Magic return to the Amway Center on Tuesday, March 12 to face Dwight Howard and the Los Angeles Lakers. Tuesday’s game will mark Howard’s first trip back to Orlando after being traded to Los Angeles during the offseason.
