Sixers not pleased with shaky finish vs. Magic

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It wasnt that long ago that how the Sixers won was irrelevant because victories were sparse. Nowadays, that bar has been raised, bringing a feeling of disappointment when the team wins in an ugly manner.

That disappointment on Monday stemmed from the fact that the Sixers' lead was 68-49 with 3:19 to play before they ended up winning 74-69 (see story.)

I let our guys know I was very happy with the win but I was not happy with how we finished the game, Doug Collins said. If we are going to be a legit team in the playoffs we cant let a team score 18 points in the last three minutes and not get one stop.

We got off our game a little bit, Thaddeus Young said. We have to come out and put our foot down and keep putting our foot down. We let up and let those guys get a lot of open shots.

He (Collins) was upset as he should be, Elton Brand said. We have to finish games better than that because it will cost us in the long run. Tonight it didnt cost us because the lead was 19 but if that lead was seven points we may have lost, so we have to tighten it up a little bit, especially with some good teams coming in this building.

Orlando was 8 of 12 from the floor to close out the game, including three made threes in the last 1:01. The Magic had not made a three the entire second half up to that point.

Our defense, for 45 minutes, was fantastic, Collins said.

He was right because Orlando was shooting 27 percent from the floor before that three-minute defensive lapse by the Sixers.

The Magics nine points in the third quarter were a season low for a Sixers' opponent in any quarter.

Yes, the Sixers' 74 points were a season low also, but they were still able to win because of consistent defense.

We were all over the place, running guys off the three-point line, making them take tough shots, Young said. Elton, Tony (Battie) and Lavoy (Allen) were playing Dwight (Howard) and they were playing such good defense that it forced us to stay with our guys, so we didnt have to double team.

The Sixers are fourth in the league in opponents' points and field goal percentage. Those numbers at the quarter point of the season prove just how much of a staple defense is for the Sixers.

Our whole goal is to play hard every single night so that teams dont want to play against that kind of activity or energy, Collins said. It makes the game tougher.

E-mail Dei Lynam at dlynam@comcastsportsnet.com.

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