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Posted on Thu, Oct. 29, 2009

Magic makes Sixers disappear in opener

By BOB COONEY
Philadelphia Daily News

cooneyb@phillynews.com

ORLANDO - Yes, sports fans, there was another Game 1 last night as the 76ers and the defending Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic opened their seasons at the Amway Arena. And the best thing that came out of it for the Sixers was that they won't play the Magic in Game 2.

The Magic made 26 of their first 39 shots, including 10 of 14 from beyond the arc, got a phenomenal performance from the bench and torched the Sixers, 120-106.

For the game, Orlando finished 45 of 81 (55.6 percent), including nailing 16 of their 29 three-point attempts (55.2 percent).

"They are really, really good," said Sixers coach Eddie Jordan, following his first regular-season game as the team's head coach. "The fact that they could make threes like that and have a post-up player like Dwight Howard . . . Our game plan was to take away the post-up and the rolls and the paint scorers. Their post game didn't really hurt us, but their threes destroyed us."

All during the preseason, Jordan talked of how his second team's performance was at a higher level than that of his starters. No one could have matched what the Magic subs did, particularly backup point guard Jason Williams. When Jameer Nelson picked up his second foul with 5 minutes, 8 seconds left in the first quarter, Williams came off the bench with his team trailing, 24-19. Williams, who wasn't in the league last year due to personal reasons, made all four of his shots, including three treys, dealt five assists and was instrumental in the Magic roaring to a 70-47 halftime lead after outscoring the Sixers in the second quarter, 41-20. Williams finished the game with 15 points.

"He has kept himself in shape and he played really well," Sixers forward Jason Kapono said of Williams. "He's played with Shaq [O'Neal], he's accustomed to playing with a dominant post presence. I think that system fits him well. He, along with 12 other guys tonight, played a great game."

As finely tuned as the Magic offense was, the Sixers' new Princeton offense seemed to stay up north.

Forward Andre Iguodala scored his only three points of the first half in the last 2 minutes, and finished with just eight for the game on 3 of 11 shooting from the floor. Elton Brand made only two field goals among his eight points and, more times than not, the offense settled for bad-looking jumpers.

Marreese Speights scored a game-high 26 points, missing just one of his 11 shots, and Lou Williams added 18 in his first NBA start.

Jordan and his players have said that it will take a while for the offense to fully kick in. They weren't lying. And it didn't appear if any of it worked against the Magic. If it weren't for the 13 first-half points from Speights, this one could have been even uglier.

"We're gonna grow," Brand said. "We're still tyring to get on the same page offensively. Defensively, they just knocked down a lot of shots."

Which leaves the question: How long will it take for the Sixers to figure out their defense?

Nelson (seven points, six assists in 21 minutes) and Williams continually broke down defenders with dribble-drives and either found an open teammate for an easy layup or dished out beyond the arc for a wide-open three-pointer; Dwight Howard was his normal Superman self (21 points, 15 rebounds), though the Sixers possessed absolutely no kryptonite; and newly acquired Vince Carter (15 points) did what he does best - score from anywhere on the court.

And then there were the subs.

Along with Williams, subs Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat, J.J. Redick and Matt Barnes combined to score 48 points and nail six treys.

The Magic advanced to the NBA Finals a season ago, falling to the Lakers in five games. The Sixers went 41-41 and went down in six games in the first round to the Magic. The Sixers added Kapono and drafted Jrue Holiday, who was deactivated last night. The Magic lost Hedu Turkoglu to free agency, but traded for one of the best scorers this decade in Carter. That right there tells a lot about the gap between the two teams.

This one got so bad that Tiger Woods even left his courtside seat at the half. Maybe he wanted to catch the other Game 1.

"Give them a lot of credit," Jordan said. "It seemed like we were as bad as it looked, but I don't think so. It's part of the formula. How to get through a game like this and bounce back. It shows me that when all five guys do things right, we can be pretty good."

The Magic had all 12 doing a lot of things very right. And the gap between the two teams was obvious.

Game 2 for the Sixers will be tomorrow night at the Wachovia Center against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Comments

Posted 03:09 AM, 10/29/2009

shmeds

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,,,,wake me up at the all star break so i can see how far we are buried in the standings, oh that's right, they will make the playoffs as the 7 or 8 seed, and then get bounced, and then get their 15th pick in the draft and just go nowhere, this franchise is a joke now.

Comment removed.

Posted 06:52 AM, 10/29/2009

Panthro22

HAH! So, what did you think was going to happen, Coach? DId you even review last year's tape of the Magic to see what you may be in for? BAH! Consider this year's Sixers a garbage squad, at best!

Posted 07:16 AM, 10/29/2009

starbird

Eddie, I love the way you left Dally in with 4 fouls. It should have embarrased this clown. He does not belong in the NBA, n' Iggy is nothing more than a over paid swingman. He is not a team leader. Trades coming by game 30....

Posted 07:32 AM, 10/29/2009

krautmef

maybe we should have the sixers play at the spectrum while it is being torn down. No thats to good for them, thats where real B ball players played.

Posted 07:54 AM, 10/29/2009

jwgealt

autoplay is for SUCKAHS philly.com

Posted 08:11 AM, 10/29/2009

XmarksTheSpot

Sam asks for the ball & screams for touches and tick....does anyone show him game film of his foolish play??? Shots going up with no one under the boards for a rebound.....oh our rebounder is busy shooting 15 ft fadeaways. Start Mo Speights at center or risk being fired early Eddie. Go Phils!!!!....get it 2gether Sixers.

Posted 08:25 AM, 10/29/2009

rayzoe

They were who we thought they were!

Posted 08:27 AM, 10/29/2009

butchcat

If the Sixers play and nobody cares, does it count?

Posted 08:58 AM, 10/29/2009

mdriban

Gosh do they stink or what? Elton who?

Posted 09:02 AM, 10/29/2009

Could.It.Really.Be...ColonelAngus

It's only one game of a long season folks. Take a chill pill.

Posted 09:06 AM, 10/29/2009

Wolverine42

if Eddie continue to start dalembert at the center and brand at pf then he will get fired before allstar break. i hope he starts Speights and put dalembert on the bench. he is trying to be a Kevin Garnett who can score and defend. i hope sam will wake up and just be himself defend the basket.

Posted 09:25 AM, 10/29/2009

brian2706

I know...just one game against one of the 5 best teams in basketball on their court. Relax. Sixers aren't great, but they're a decent team. Definitely worth watching.

Posted 09:34 AM, 10/29/2009

rzzzzz

jrue inactive? got to be a story there. you'd think with the orlando guards killing our backcourt and more pretty much a full second half of garbage time you would want to get the rookie at least a couple minutes to get his feet wet.

Posted 09:57 AM, 10/29/2009

brmorgen81

Please, loyal Sixers fans, I implore you, get on these messages boards and let your voice be heard. It doesn't take a genious to see that Samuel Dalembert cannot play, but if 55 year old lifelong "basketball man" Eddie Jordan cannot see this, something needs to be done. I'm not going to stop buying tickets, and when I do buy tickets, I am going to let my displeasure be heard at the games. Call me disrespectful, call me what you will, but what's really disrespectful to the fans is EDDIE JORDAN throwing SAMUEL DALEMBERT out there and actually ENCOURAGING HIM TO SHOOT!

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