<font color="DarkRed">Philadelphia 76ers (6-6)</font> @ <font color="Blue">Orlando Magic (7-4)</font> Time: 7:00 PM, EST Location: TD Waterhouse TV: CSN, NBA League Pass ____________________ <u>Previous Game</u> <font color="DarkRed">Washington Wizards 114, Philadelphia 76ers 116 W(OT)</font> <font color="Blue">Orlando Magic 117 , Atlanta Hawks 99 W</font> ____________________ <u>Starting Five</u> <font color="DarkRed">Philadelphia 76ers</font> C- Marc Jackson F- Josh Davis F- Kyle Korver G- Andre Iguodala G- Allen Iverson Head Coach- Jim O?Brien <font color="Blue">Orlando Magic</font> C- Kelvin Cato F- Dwight Howard F- Grant Hill G- Cuttino Mobely* G- Steve Francis Head Coach- Johnny Davis <font size="1">*- Denotes Questionable</font> ____________________ <u>Players To Watch</u> <font color="DarkRed">Kyle Korver</font> PPG: 13.7, RPG: 4.2, FG%: 50.9, 3pt FG%: 45% <font color="Blue">Grant Hill</font> PPG: 20.1 RPG: 5.7, APG: 4.1, FG%: 49% ____________________ Keys To The Game <font color="DarkRed">Philadelphia 76ers</font> <ul>Team Defense The 76ers did an excellent job containing the Steve Francis and co. So if the 76ers want to come out victorious they should come in with the same defense intensity as they did last time.[/list] <ul>Rebounds The Magic has quite a few big men. And they're big men are by far much larger than the 76ers big men. So the 76ers need to be aggressive on the boards and can't give up too many second chance opportunities.[/list] <ul>Defend the perimeter Granted if Mobely does indeed play, the 76er need to watch the perimeter. Francis, Hill, Hedo, Garrity and possibly Mobely can all hit the perimeter shot. However, while they're shot can be streaky the 76ers must not underestimate and contest every single shot.[/list] <ul>The Bench This is where the 76ers have a great advantage. With Corliss Williamson producing the way he has lately also with Samuel Dalembert defensive presence and possibly Iguodala or Green energy off the bench, the 76ers bench should take advantage of the Heat bench if things go accordingly.[/list] <font color="Blue">Orlando Magic</font> <ul>Stop KYLE KORVER Not Allen Iverson, but Kyle Korver. They need to put him in check. Kyle Korver has proved that he is no push-over and those who think he is, they will regret. Just ask the Washington Wizards and Indian Pacers. Kyle Korver has been very hot lately, and they must contain him. Korver is not a very good player off the dribble, so the Magic should look to exploit that.[/list] <ul>Attack the Paint The 76ers so called big men with the exception of Dalembert who barley goes under that label are relatively small. The Sixers are the shortest team in the NBA and the Miami Heat should exploit that. And with the exception of Dalembert the 76ers have no interior defense, so the Miami alike the 76ers should attack the paint.[/list] <ul>Rebounds The 76ers big men are relatively short, so the Magic's need to take advantage of that. While they are the favorites to grab majority of the rebounds, they can't underestimate the 76ers "big men" because they are very gritty and tuff. Jackson, Williamson and possibly Kenny Thomas plays with a lot of heart, so they cannot underestimate them. The rebounds are one of the Magic biggest advantages and they cannot let that slip away. So they must make sure that they grab every rebound.[/list]
Great preview. If the Sixers follow the keys to the game and score like they did against Washington, I`m seeing a W.
It looks liek Mobely is out again for the Magic that can be seen as a win/ or lose for the Sixers. Win because they do not have to worry about the presence of Mobely who can go for 20 on any given night, and is a great three point shooter lose because Stevenson played great last night in Atlanta and is going into tonight with a lot of confidence in his game as well as Jameer Nelson who scored 11 points last night.
Halftime Philadelphia 76ers 56, Orlando Magic 49 - Halftime NOTES: Iverson and the 76es are getting to the paint at will. They have 28 FT attempts compared to Magic's 18 FT attempts. Top Performers <font color="DarkRed">Allen Iverson:</font> 17 Points, 1 Rebound, 1 Assists, 2 Steals <font color="DarkRed">Andre Iguodala:</font> 7 Points, 2 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steal <font color="Blue">Grant Hill:</font> 13 Points, 1 Rebound, 2 Assists, 1 Block <font color="Blue">Dwight Howard:</font> 7 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal
Good game sixer fans. You guys played great and kept the game really close. It was high scoring and fun to watch. Good game and good luck throught out your season.
lol I thought this game was today! I was channel surfing and I see a close game between the Magic and Sixers. Well it looked like the Sixers played a great game but Orlando made the big shots at the end.
I thought we were going to win this one, once Korver hit that three ball I said we are definatly winning this. But I was wrong, Iguodala had about 5 sick dunks that made my jaw drop but it wasn't enough. Grant Hill looks like he is really coming back to his old self again, he hit those clutch back-to-back jumpers with about 3 minutes left which tied it up. I am happy for Willie, it looks like he got his game back on track in the first half, 4-5 for 12 points. FINALLY! Brian Skinners shows his face in a game and he didn't play that bad for 12 minutes of work. Brian scored 7 and pulled down 5 boards. He should be getting a little more playing time. The center spot should be being split up evenly between Dalembert, Jackson, and Skinner. BTW? Anybody got a clip of Iguodala over Cato?
It seemed like a hard fought game, I saw some highlights and Iverson looks good out there as welll as Iguodala.When I was looking at the boxscore I saw Dalembert played only 3 minutes, he didnt get hurt did he?
^^No. I think Obie just wanted much offense in this game so he played Marc Jackson much more. Good move too IMO. Jackson can hit a mid-range jumper and put backs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">[IMGl]http://www.nba.com/media/magic/DHoward_200_041127.jpg[/IMGl]The foul-plagued Francis scored 15 of his 26 points in a spectacular fourth quarter as the Orlando Magic fought off the Philadelphia 76ers, 105-99, for their fourth win in five games. Francis picked up his fourth foul early in the second half and was limited to 22 minutes through the first three quarters. He returned at the start of the final period and won his duel with fellow All-Star Allen Iverson. Francis had a rare four-point play early in the period and did it all in the final 2 1/2 minutes as he was responsible for Orlando's last 11 points. After sinking a free throw, Francis found Grant Hill for a pair of corner jumpers that gave the Magic a 99-97 lead with 1:25 to go. "Whoever gets open, that's who I'm going to give the ball to," Francis said. </div> <div align="center">Recap</div> <div align="center">Box Score</div> <div align="center">Postgame Notes</div> The 76ers had this game won. Those couple turnovers at the end of the game really hurtled, and Allen Iverson didn't look like he wanted to play defense when Steve Francis hit those two crucial shots as the time winded down. But the 76ers performed very well, I would like to have see Kyle Korver get a couple more shots and if Iverson knocked down a couple more shots this game would have been more within our reach. But on a brighter note, Iverson is really doing a good job at the point. For the game he had 3 turnovers, but it was really one turnover actually because of his bad play at the end of the game. He was forcing the issue which is okay, but he was forcing it a little too much and thus that is why he committed those turnovers as the game came close to an end. However, that?s what comes with the territory and we got to live with that. But if you watch him play he?s taking much better care of the ball opposed to the way he handled the ball earlier on. Well, the 76ers are now 6-7 which is okay. And there are 2nd in the Atlantic Division behind the Knicks which are 6-6. Next up, San Antonio Spurs. We've given this team many problems, and if wasn't for that dreadful 1st Quarter we had against them in the last game we would have won. So this is a winnable game, but then again the Spurs have been tearing up their opponents at home. So we?ll see how things play out.
