Sixers fall to Orlando; will face LeBron and Heat in playoffs

Philadelphia - Jameer Nelson set the tone early and Dwight Howard dominated the paint throughout as the Orlando Magic thumped an Andre Iguodala-less Sixers team, 95-85, in front of 19,139 at Wells Fargo Center.

Nelson, the former St. Joseph's star, buried his first three pointers en route to 19 points and seven assists on the night. Howard returned from a one-game suspension to finish with 19 points and 13 rebounds but his presence intimidated Philadelphia far beyond words.

Orlando outrebounded the Sixers 17-2 in the first quarter and 25-2 at one point in the second before finishing with a dominating 56-31 advantage on the backboards.

"I think I can probably sort of sum up this game pretty quickly -- rebounding and three-point shooting. That was the killer," Sixers coach Doug Collins said.

The loss ensured that the Sixers will finish with the seventh seed in the East and face Miami in the conference quarterfinals. The Heat clinched the No.2 spot on Wednesday with a 98-90 win over Atlanta coupled with Boston's  95-94 overtime loss in Washington.

Ryan Anderson added 18 points and 14 boards against the Sixers for the Magic, who have won three of four. Orlando had already locked up the No. 4 seed and will play Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs.

"They took the lead in the third and then I thought we just opened it up and played really well for six to eight minutes," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "That's what won the game."

Elton Brand paced Philadelphia with 22 points, while Jrue Holiday added 15 to go with 11 assists in the loss, the Sixers' fourth in five games. Andres Nocioni came off the bench to net 13 points and a team-high six rebounds.

Spencer Hawes really struggled against Howard, contributing just four points and two rebounds in just over 28 minutes of action. Evan Turner, who started in place of Iguodala, also played poorly, scoring just seven points on 2-of-7 shooting.

"They were just more aggressive than us. We weren't getting any bodies on people," Collins said. I can't sugarcoat it when Evan gets one defensive rebound in 25  minutes. Elton one in 37 and Spencer one in 28."

SIX SHOTS:

*The 56-31 effort on the boards was most the Sixers were outrebounded by since April 7, 1997 at Chicago (66-32).

*Orlando has dominated the Sixers over the years, winning 18 of the last 22 meetings in the series. Overall, Orlando is 59-27 against Philly.

*The Sixers are 5-9 without Iguodala.