Sixers Fall To Magic, 91-89
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tobias Harris made a jumper at the buzzer to give the Orlando Magic their first victory of the season, 91-89 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.
Nik Vucevic scored 17 points and Channing Frye had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando. Harris had 18 points and eight rebounds to help the Magic snap a season-opening, four-game losing streak.
It helped they played the Sixers. The Sixers are 0-5 for the first time since the 2001-02 season. Tony Wroten scored 27 points and Brandon Davies had 20 to give the Sixers two 20-point scorers in a game for the first time this season.
Henry Sims swished the tying bucket from the top of the key with 4.6 seconds left.
Harris buried a fallaway at the horn for the thrilling win.
Close or not, the Sixers still ended up with the L.
As in most of their first four games, the Sixers kept the score close for most of the first three quarters, but didn't have enough in the fourth.
The question remains, when will the Sixers win? They play their third home game of the week Friday against Chicago. Then games against Toronto, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio mean it could be late in the month before their next legitimate shot against Boston.
The Sixers blew several chances to tie or trim the lead within a bucket in the final minutes until Wroten's driving layup pulled them to 85-83. Philadelphia's Luc Mbah a Moute lost the ball on the next possession — just one more sloppy play in a game full of them.
Sixers rookie Nerlens Noel, who sat out all of last season recovering from a torn ACL, left the game with a sprained left ankle. Noel scored four points and had two rebounds in 16 minutes.
He tore the ACL in his left knee his lone season at Kentucky. Noel had shown flashes in the first four games of living up to his No. 6 overall draft pick status. Noel had a double-double against Milwaukee, and he made highlight reels with his leaping, one-handed stuff of Houston's James Harden's two-handed dunk attempt on Monday.
The Sixers did it again with the nifty dunks, this time when Wroten lobbed one to K.J. McDaniels for the one-handed slam over helpless Maurice Harkless. McDaniels sank a free throw for the three-point play and a 42-41 lead in the second.
But neither team could pull away from the other, an expected tight one between two of the worst teams in the NBA.
The Sixers will get a rare dose of good news Thursday when NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams returns to practice. He'll participate in a full practice for the first time this season following surgery in May to repair the labrum of his right shoulder.
Carter-Williams was only the third player since 1950-51 to lead all rookies in scoring (16.7), rebounding (6.3) and assists (6.2), joining Oscar Robertson (1960-61) and Alvan Adams (1975-76). Allen Iverson is the only other player in Sixers history to win the rookie award.
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