76ers Fall To Magic 98-86, Dropping Second NBA Cup Game Of The Season

The 76ers were losers again Friday night, falling 98-86 to the Orlando Magic in a sloppy overall performance. This is their second NBA Cup loss of the year and third loss in a row.

Jarred McCain was the leading man once again for the 76ers, continuing his impressive stretch of games recently, finishing 29 points, four assists, and shooting five three-pointers. Joel Embiid had a more remarkable game compared to his season debut versus the Knicks, scoring 20 points and eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the win.

Franz Wagner was the leading man for the Magic, finishing with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, while Jalen Suggs added 19 points and seven rebounds of his own.

As the game began, Embiid looked ready to go scoring an early eight points from layups and free throws. However, Magic forward Franz Wagner came out hot as well knocking down several shots of his own to tie the game at 15. Orlando then went on a 9-0 run thanks to a long three from Franz and layups from his brother Moritz and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

With two minutes left in the quarter, the 76ers answered back with a 6-0 run of their own thanks to buckets from Embiid and a slam dunk from Guerschon Yabusele, going into the second quarter down 24-21.

The 76ers continued that run into the second quarter, scoring another eight points with buckets once again from Embiid and Yabusele as well as a thunderous dunk from rookie Jared McCain. The Magic, now down five, finally got the ball rolling thanks to five points from Johnathan Issac to retake the lead.

As the first half came winding down, both squads continued to answer each other. McCain continued his impressive quarter knocking down his first three and another layup. With under a minute left Paul George knocked down his first three-pointer and first shot of the night to put the 76ers up five. However, Caldwell-Pope drilled a three of his own to beat the buzzer and made it 45-43 76ers after 24 minutes of play.

Out of the half, it was raining threes from both teams, with George knocking down a triple to open the half and Franz Wagner and Caldwell-Pope each contributing one of their own. It was then all McCain who went on an 8-0 run of his own, drilling a pair of threes and adding another one minutes later for his 11th point of the quarter, putting the 76ers up nine.

With under six minutes to play in the third quarter, McCain scored another four points thanks to free throws and the 76ers began to coast to the end of the quarter with a lead. However, with under a minute left in the quarter, the Magic went on a 9-0 run thanks to back-to-back buckets from Anthony Black and free throws from Issac and Franz Wagner taking a 73-72 lead into the fourth quarter.

With only 12 minutes left to play, the Magic rode their momentum from the end of the previous quarter into this one, with Moritz Wagner drilling a three. Jalen Suggs then got going scoring six points of his own to extend Orlando’s lead to nine. Suggs and McCain then went back and forth, trading buckets at the rim, but for McCain, his night wouldn’t last much longer as he was called for his sixth foul, knocking him out of the game with just under five minutes to play.

Down 86-80 and with McCain done for the night, the 76ers needed to get a run going. Embiid knocked down a pair of free throws, but Franz Wagner couldn’t be stopped drilling a huge three, and Suggs one-upped him hitting a long logo three of his own to make it 92-82 with three minutes left to play. The 76ers were unable to get a run going as the game winded down and Orlando was able to pull out the 98-86 win.

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