After a loss to Orlando on Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers will look to bounce back on Friday when they face the Magic again at home.
Orlando began its two-game visit to Philadelphia with a 106-102 win. Franz Wagner led the team with 35 points, while the Magic made it difficult for 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey to have a good shooting night.
The 76ers played without two of their top three players, as Joel Embiid and Paul George sat out to rest their knees. This left coach Nick Nurse with only one All-Star on the court, along with a group of role players who are also dealing with injuries.
“(Finding continuity without key players) is very difficult,” said Nurse, who hopes to have George (and possibly Embiid) back for Friday’s game.
“I hope that we are going to get these guys together at the same time here fairly shortly. And then start working on the continuity. But to your question, it is difficult. Guys are in and out and we’re trying to figure it out.”
Orlando also played without its best player, Paolo Banchero, who is still out with an oblique injury. Despite that, the Magic relied on Wagner’s 35-point performance to earn their seventh win in the last eight games.
“I really did like their composure,” said Magic coach Jamahl Mosley about his team’s calmness in the final moments. “The communication between each of the guys about where the matchups were, how we were guarding, the different situations we were gonna be in.
I just think that they did a great job of listening and paying attention to what the coaches were saying, but also with communicating with one another.”
Wagner is having his best season so far, averaging 24.2 points, 5.7 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.8 steals, even though he’s playing about the same amount of minutes as in the past two seasons. His teammates and coaches have been suggesting he could be an All-Star, but Wagner prefers to ignore the attention.
“(I try to) focus on the stuff that really matters,” Wagner said. “Obviously it’s really cool to be playing well and to have a good season. Everybody has their own motivation. That’s just kind of an add-on for me.”
Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s main scorer, Maxey, is going through a bit of a shooting slump.
Maxey made only 7-of-19 shots (0-for-7 from 3-point range) against Orlando on Wednesday. This is the fourth time in the last five games that he’s shot below 42%.
“They trapped every ball screen,” said Maxey, who is 1-of-14 from 3-point range in the last two games. “That’s hard, but that’s why Jared (McCain) got downhill. They played drop on him. He got downhill and scored (24 points), he made some 3s. I thought we did a good job, man. I got in the paint, I got guys open shots — we made some, we missed some. I’m overall happy with the way we played offense.”
The Magic are 3-1 so far on their five-game road trip, which has included games in New York against the Nets and Knicks, and now Philadelphia. After Friday’s game, they will return to Orlando for seven of their next eight games.
