Ryan Anderson’s 27 points led the Orlando Magic to a 103-87 victory Wednesday night over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.
Dwight Howard added 17 points and 14 rebounds helping Orlando to it’s 3rd consecutive win.
The Magic kept a good 76ers defense off balance all night with Howard’s presence in the post and great ball movement on the wing, knocking down open shots.
“They’ve been shooting like that,” 76ers coach Doug Collins said. “Them being solid like that ain’t a mystery. … We had a horrible start to the game, fought back to get in it, had a horrible finish to the second quarter, to get it to within six and then give them a 10-0 run. And then we’re fighting uphill the entire night.”
Anderson hit 7 of the Magic’s 15 3’s. Orlando as a team shot 60% from beyond the arc.
“The funny thing is I missed 5 in a row during warm ups and I never miss, so I was thinking I might be off tonight,” Anderson said.
Ryan is playing very well this season but Van Gundy continues to push him to be a complete player. Even scoring 27 Gundy found a flaw in his game, pointing out the fact Anderson only grabbed 2 rebounds.
“Coach is just pushing me to be more then a shooter, he wants me to be the complete package and I’m good with that. He cares, I need to get better at hitting the glass and I will.”
Andre Iguodala hit his first three shots including a 3 cutting the Magic deficit to 8. The 76ers got to within six a few times in the second half but couldn’t get stops on the defensive end.
“We would cut the lead down to six but that’s as close as we could get. Seemed like every time we got it to 6 they hit a shot to put them up 9. If we could have cut it to 3 or 4 it would have been a different game,” Lou Williams said post game.”
Williams lead the 76ers with 21 points, 11 coming in the first half to go along with 7 assists. Andre Iguodala chipped in 15.
The Magic (19-11) will host Brandon Jennings and the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night, tip-off set for 7pm.
