The Orlando Magic snapped a 10 game road losing streak on Tuesday night in Philadelphia as they beat the Sixers 98-84.
The Magic were led by guard Arron Afflalo and newly acquired forward Tobias Harris as both had a team high in points with 16.
Orlando was without starting point guard Jameer Nelson who sat with a left knee injury. But even without their floor leader, the Magic closed the Sixers out with a strong showing in the fourth quarter scoring 30 points.
Outside of the win, the Magic will take delight in how well Harris played. The Magic traded former guard J.J. Redick away to the Milwaukee Bucks for Harris and three other players last Thursday.
In addition to playing 31 minutes on Tuesday, Harris donned Dwight Howard’s old number 12. Not quite the same for Magic fans seeing a new number 12 run the floor for Orlando, but having a young player who has the potential to put up a double-double each night is nice to see.
The cheerful nature that enveloped the Magic locker after their first win since February 10th may not last long as Orlando travels back home to face the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
Orlando’s young legs may serve them well as the Kings were taken to double overtime by the Heat in Miami Wednesday night. Back-to-backs are hard enough in the NBA, but with the Kings sporting fatigued legs and bodies, Orlando should try to take advantage of their exhaustion.
A win versus Sacramento would be the Magic’s first winning streak since mid December when they won four in a row.
-JH
