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ORLANDODoug Collins saw it coming. He didnt need to dig too deeply into the video from the recent games to drive the point home. It was there in black and white.
The Orlando Magic shoot the three-pointer. They shoot it a lot and they shoot it well, and thats exactly what they did to the 76ers in Wednesday nights 103-87 decision at the Amway Center (see game breakdown). The Magic attempted 25 three-pointers against the Sixers, which is right at their average. However, they made 15 of them, which is well above their average.
As a result, it made for a long night at the end of a three-game road trip for the Sixers.
Its not a mystery, Collins said. Theyve been shooting like that.
No, the mystery is trying to figure out a way to stop it. The Magic got 15 three-pointers from five different players, including seven from Sixer-killer Ryan Anderson (27 points on 9-for-12 shooting) and four from Jason Richardson. To make matters worse, the Sixers had to contend with point guard Jameer Nelson, who dished out 14 assists to go with 12 points, as well as All-Star center Dwight Howard, who went for 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Howard got his 17 on 15 shots and attempted just three foul shots. Many teams choose to double team Howard and hack him to force him to earn his points from the line where he shoots just 49 percent, but thats just not Collins style.
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We didnt double him much, but we helped to put an extra man on him, but then we left Ryan Anderson open and he can shoot and he knocked those things down and it really hurt us, said Elton Brand, who had 13 points but grabbed just two rebounds in 25 minutes.
Its the hockey pass. One guy to the next guy to the next guy to the corner, which is the shortest three. It hurt us.
In fact, Howard just might be the catalyst to the Magics long-range game and he has just one three-pointer in his entire career. Because Howard commands so much attention in the paint, oftentimes the defense is left scrambling when they kick it out. If he wasnt getting shots from the rim, Howard was giving it to Nelson, who distributed it to his teammates.
Any one of them will do just fine.
Any time a four man can stretch the floor like that, its going to be tough, Collins said. They built their team on shooting with Dwight Howard as the anchor and theyre a great defensive team with him guarding the basket. With those four shooters and Howard on the pick-and-roll, theyre a tough team.
It makes it tough for the Sixers defense, too, since the teams forwards essentially have to play D like a guard.
They have four shooters. They have four guys and obviously someone is going to have to guard on the perimeter who isnt used to that, Williams said. Tonight it was our fours and when youre used to banging on guys on the inside and all of sudden you have guys spreading the floor and using screen-and-rolls, thats different territory for them.
All five starters for the Magic scored at least 11 points. Plus, the Magic shot the ball better from three-point range than they did from inside the key. Because of that, the Sixers trailed by 17 points midway through the first quarter.
The Sixers rallied during the second quarter, chipped away at the Magics lead and got it to six points with 1:59 remaining in the half.
But then the Magic got hot again and closed the half with a 10-2 run.
That killed us. Killed us, Collins said. The start of the game killed us. We were very passive offensively, we passed up shots and then we missed shots. We missed a lot of easy shots and that played with our psyche a little bit and discouraged us. And then they were red hot.
The Sixers were led by Lou Williams, who came off the bench to post 21 points. Andre Iguodala scored 11 points during the third quarter to lead another Sixers surge. But after the Sixers climbed to within five points, the Magic got hot again and cruised during the fourth quarter.
We got it to six a few times and then we couldnt get over that hump, Williams said. I think if we could have gotten it down to four or two, it would have been a different ballgame. But every time we got it to six it seemed like they would hit a big shot.
Or, they turned it over. The Sixers had an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers in the loss with five of them coming from point guard Jrue Holiday. To make matters worse, Holiday shot just 1 for 8 and scored just three points.
Just one of those night for the point guard, eh Doug?
I guess.
Still, finishing the trip by winning two out of three, the Sixers maintained their four-game lead a top the Atlantic Division standings. Through 30 games of the season, the Sixers have 20 wins for just the 14th time since the franchise moved from Syracuse for the 1963-64 season.
Next, the Sixers face the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks at the Center on Friday night. Like the Magic, the Mavs head into the game on a roll with five straight wins, including one over the Nuggets on Wednesday night.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com.