The Sixers looked to continue their winning ways tonight as they returned home for a matchup with Dwight Howard and the Magic. Despite playing on back to back nights the Sixers gave Orlando all they could handle and then some. Defensively, they held trey loving Magic under 40% from beyond and actually out rebounded Orlando 45-40. They also did a good job keeping most of the Magic to less then their best, except Howard who went off for 30 and 17 rebounds and that proved to be the difference. The Sixers themselves didn't quite do enough offensively and that too was a factor. They shot only 42% from the field with Lou Williams 23 leading the way. Andre Iguodala was also big with 21 and 8 assists, Elton Brand chipped in with 12, and Jodie Meeks had 17, but no other Sixer had more than 7 points.
Despite not shooting their best most of the night the Sixers actually did come out strong early on, taking a 9 point lead through 1 quarter. Orlando rallied back in the 2nd quarter as the Sixers cooled off and by the half it was a 2 point Orlando advantage. The Sixers were never able to find their top form again for the remainder of the night, but they did not give up. Defense and scrappy allowed them to stick within 5 heading into the 4th quarter. There in the 4th they continually found a way to stay within a basket or two. They were never able to get over the hump though, and eventually after sinking some free throws Orlando hung on to win 99-95.
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