Hedo Turkoglu drained a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to lift Orlando over Philadelphia, 108-106, at the Wachovia Center.
With the game tied at 106 and just 10.1 seconds on the clock, the Magic got the ball to Turkoglu at the top of the circle and the Turkish star drove right before going up for a shot. Andre Iguodala tried to strip Turkoglu as he raised up and made contact with his left hand. The forward calmly stepped to the line with 2.4 seconds on the clock and calmly drained two from the stripe to win it.
The Sixers had trouble inbounding the ball at the other end and never got off a shot for the tie.
Turkoglu finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Magic, who have won three straight games and six of seven. Dwight Howard added 17 points and 14 boards, while Rashard Lewis had 18 points and seven rebounds.
Andre Miller had 23 points and 11 assists for the Sixers, who lost for the first time in three games. Lou Williams donated 20 points off the bench and rookie Thaddeus Young contributed 15 points.
The game was tightly-contested throughout. Maurice Evans' three with just 18 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Magic an 87-84 advantage heading to the final frame.
The Sixers kept hanging around, however, and evened things at 91 when Miller connected on a baseline jumper with 7:20 left in the game.
Orlando answered with a 6-0 run in the next 1 1/2 minutes to take a measure of control. Turkoglu sandwiched a Carlos Arroyo jumper with a driving layup and a pair of free throws to make it a 97-91 game with 5:49 on the clock.
Philadelphia kept fighting and managed to deadlock things at 99 with three consecutive buckets. Miller's left-hand driving lay-in capped the mini-run with 4:01 left.
After Turkoglu stopped the bleeding, Williams answered at the other end with a three to give the Sixers the lead, 102-101, with 3:29 left
The back-and-fourth action continued from there. Arroyo drained a three to make it a 106-104 game but Iguodala deposited a finger roll with 1:46 left to even things at 106.
Both teams had chances to go ahead from there but came up empty.
Williams drove and drew contact from Keyon Dooling but the whistles were silent and his fadeaway jumper hit the back up the rim, giving the Magic a chance to win it and setting the stage for Turkoglu.
The teams were deadlocked at 33 after an entertaining first quarter. Things remained close in the second quarter and the Sixers took a slim 60-59 edge into the locker room.
Game Notes
The 33 points in the first quarter was a season-high for Philadelphia...Sixers rookie forward Jason Smith missed the contest with a balky ankle...Orlando is now 18-10 on the road...The Sixers are just 4-25 when they enter the fourth quarter with a deficit.
No comments:
Post a Comment