Nothing magical about the Sixers in their opener

The final score may have been 120-106, but the game wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated.   Granted the Sixers are not in the same class as the Magic.  But the Magic outscored the Sixers 41-20 in the second quarter and were leading by 29 after the third quarter.

“This is a heck of a team we played tonight,” new Sixers coach Eddie Jordan said. “They got away from us a little bit in the first half with some layups in the open floor, but the 3s destroyed us.”

Even without sharpshooter Rashard Lewis, who is suspended ten games to start the season, the Magic were deadly from behind the arc.  The Magic knocked down more than 55 percent of their threes (16 of 29).

“It seemed like we were as bad as it looked, but I don’t think so. It’s part of the formula,” Jordan said. How to get through a game like this and bounce back. It shows me that when all five guys do things right, we can be pretty good.”

The problem is all five guys didn’t do things right.

The lone exception was Marreese Speights, who made 10 of 11 shots and led the Sixers with 26 points.  With the Princeton offense starting through the center, I prefer to have the ball start in Speights’ (over Dalembert’s) hands.  Speights’ game is knocking down that 15- or 18-foot jumper.

Both Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand, the team’s biggest “stars,” looked horrible.  Both scored only eight points each and shot a combined five for 18 from the field.

Part of loss was due to the Magic being, as Jordan says, a “heck of a team,” but a good part of it was due to the Sixers sloppy offensive play.  They never looked to be in a rhythm and often took contested, awkward jumpers.

The Sixers host the Bucks in their home opener on Friday.