Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Tobias Harris and the Orlando Magic
have their first win.
The Philadelphia 76ers are still waiting.
Harris’ long jumper at the buzzer gave the Magic a 91-89 win over the Sixers
on Wednesday night in a game between two 0-4 teams.
The Magic avoided what would have been their first 0-5 start since 1990-91,
their second season as an NBA team.
The Sixers are 0-5 for the first time since the 2001-02 season, when they lost
their first five games as the defending Eastern Conference champions.
Making matters worse, center Nerlens Noel left the game with a sprained ankle
in the third quarter and did not return.
Harris made his winner from just inside the 3-point line on the right wing,
shooting it over Sixers forward Luc Mbah a Moute, then running down the
court toward the Orlando bench in celebration.
It came after Henry Sims tied the score for Philadelphia at the other end on a
straightaway jumper with 4.6 remaining, his only bucket of the game.
Harris ended with 18 points for the Magic, who were coming off a 98-90 loss in
Chicago on Tuesday night. They are 24-5 in the last 29 meetings with the
Sixers and 14-4 in their last 18 games in Philadelphia.
Nikola Vucevic added 17 points in the win, Channing Frye scored 13 with 11
rebounds and Ben Gordon had 15 points off the bench.
Tony Wroten continued his hot start with 27 points to lead the Sixers, who
finally played a close game after losing their first four by an average of
13.25 points. Brandon Davies added 20 points and K.J. McDaniels had 12 off the
bench.
Noel, who missed all of last season with a knee injury he suffered as a
freshman at Kentucky, rolled his ankle under the basket and limped off under
his own power. The team announced soon after that the ankle was sprained.
“As far as how long it will keep him out, I’m not sure,” Sixers coach Brett
Brown said.
The Sixers had 10 turnovers in the first three quarters, then 10 more in the
fourth. The Magic turned the ball over 21 times in the first three quarters
but only three times in the fourth.
The game was tied 52-52 at halftime and 75-75 after three quarters.
Noel had four points, two rebounds and three assists before leaving, including
a behind-the-back bounce pass to Alexey Shved for a layup that finished off a
3-on-1 in the second quarter.
McDaniels also made the highlight reels for Philadelphia in the second quarter
when he threw down an alley-oop off Wroten’s pass despite being fouled by Moe
Harkless.
A 3-pointer by Frye sparked a 9-0 run by Orlando, but the Sixers tied the
score behind 15 first-half points from Wroten, who scored 11 of them in the
first quarter — including nine Sixers points in a row during one stretch.
Philadelphia had the biggest lead of any team until that point when Mbah a
Moute’s dunk made it 64-57 midway through the third quarter. The Sixers led by
eight after that, but another 3-pointer by Frye led to a 12-2 Orlando run.
Game Notes
Wroten had eight assists and five steals. He is averaging 20.8 points in five
games and joined Allen Iverson as the only Sixers players since 1985 with 104
points and 17 steals in the first five games of a season … After their 0-5
start in 2001, reigning MVP Iverson and the Sixers ripped off seven straight
wins on the way to making the playoffs … The Los Angeles Lakers (0-5) are
also winless … The Sixers will finish a four-game homestand on Friday
against Chicago … The Magic return home to play Minnesota on Friday.
