Sixers vs. Magic Game Recap

Last night the Sixers took down the Magic in Orlando with a final score of 116-106. It certainly wasn’t pretty but a win is a win. Doc Rivers returned to his first game back after missing the previous 2 due to being in health & safety protocols. This was not an ideal game to come back to after 2 very solid wins back to back. Either way, the Sixers have extended their win streak to 5 and are now 5th in the Eastern Conference.  They sit 2 games back behind the Miami Heat for 4th and are 5 games back from first. 

Joel Embiid was impressive yet again securing his 8th straight 30 point game on the road. This his 5 straight 30 point game overall as it puts his average at 26.7 ppg to go along with 10.7 rebounds. Joel has clearly been the most dominant player in the NBA over the last month or so and was able to win Eastern Conference player of the month for the month of December. He continued to be dominant with no player that could guard him on the Magic. This has seemed to be the case for every team that the Sixers have played recently as Jojo has really made his case for the best big in the NBA. 

Tobias Harris had himself somewhat of a bounceback game as he put up 22 points and 9 rebounds. It’s very clear that Harris is in a slump and he’s continued to struggle for about the last month and a half or so. Harris knows that he isn’t shooting the ball as well as he wants to be but he has the encouragement from everyone else on this team to succeed. The coaches and players have really tried to keep Tobias’s spirit up and to not let this recent slump affect him too much. Harris was great down the stretch hitting a couple huge 3’s for the Sixers that put the game away for them. Hopefully this is a sign that Harris is starting to get into his rhythm again and will play to his All-Star caliber abilities again. 

Seth Curry played great last night having himself a 20 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds game. This is yet another 20 point game for Seth on the season as he is averaging over 16 ppg which is by far a career high. Curry isn’t shooting the ball as well as he has in prior years but hopefully he picks it up before the end of the season. Come playoff time we’ll need a shooter like Seth to keep us in close games. 

Overall it wasn’t the best game, but there were definitely some good takeaways. Embiid stayed dominant and doesn’t look like he’s slowing down at all. Players like Curry and Tobi are now stepping up and getting Embiid the help that he needs. Doc definitely has to make a lot of adjustments if they plan on competing in the playoffs, but we have to focus on making it there first.