76ers find Howard's kryptonite, defeat Magic 101-89
The 76ers backcourt, led by Andre Miller and Willie Green, outscored Orlando’s backcourt, 52-2, on Wednesday night as the Sixers went on to defeat the Magic at home, 101-89.
"I thought our attention to detail at the start of the game was huge for us,” said Sixers Head Coach Maurice Cheeks. “Getting out on the fastbreak, doing a lot of the things we talked about before the game, pushing the basketball and getting stops and using the pick-and-roll.”
At the 10:34 mark of the second quarter, the Sixers used an 18-1 run to go ahead 53-30. Almost two minutes later, Green grabbed his own offensive rebound and scored two points off of a running hook shot in the lane. Green scored again with one 1:00 mark of the second quarter, using a reverse layup, giving the Sixers their biggest lead of the game, 61-37. Green hit 11-of-18 shots, for a season-high 26 points, while collecting six rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. At the break, the Sixers were out in front with a comfortable lead, 61-42.
It was not all offense in the first half for the Sixers. Over a seven-minute stretch second quarter, Dwight Howard was held scoreless, without even attempting a shot, while turning the ball over twice. Howard scored just two points in the second, third and fourth quarters, finishing with 14 points. From the 10:25 mark in the second quarter, till there was just 48.9 left in the frame, the Magic missed 10 straight shots from the field.
Miller scored 14 of his 26 points and dished out five of his game-high nine assists in the first quarter. In that same quarter, the Sixers made their first six shots from the field and 11 of their first 12.
“Andre Miller controlled the entire ball game,” said Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy. “They had other guys play very well, but he was in total control of that ball game. If you make a mistake defensively, he is getting the ball to the guy who you made the mistake on, and you pay for it.”
Andre Iguodala was the third Sixer to reach the 20-point mark with 24 on the night, connecting on seven shots from the field along with nine points from the charity stripe. Iguodala also tallied seven assists, two steals and two blocks.
The Sixers outscored the Magic in the paint, 34-28, and in transition, 21-9. The also forced 20 Magic turnovers.
Samuel Dalembert posted nine points and 12 rebounds, while Lou Williams led the Sixers bench with eight points and Thaddeus Young finished with six points, five rebounds and two steals.
