Banchero, Magic rally from early hole, beat 76ers 119-109

PHILADELPHIA(AP) — Paolo Banchero had 29 points and 10 rebounds as the OrlandoMagic stormed back from a 21-point first-quarter deficit to beatthe Philadelphia 76ers 119-109 on Monday night.

Mo Wagnerscored 22 points and his younger brother Franz Wagner scored 19 forthe Magic, who stopped a three-game skid and ended the Sixers’seven-game winning streak.

It was thelatest win over one of the NBA’s top teams for the Magic, whoimproved to 15-11 since their 6-20 start.

“They arelearning from experiences,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Theyare finding ways to bounce back and believe in each other andunderstand that it’s got to start on the defensive side of theball.”

Orlando hasbeaten Boston three times, Golden State twice, Dallas, Phoenix andnow Philadelphia.

“We are avery good team,” Banchero said. “We just have to learn how to putthis effort out every night. We have to be able to take this gameand take it to the next game and the game after that no matter whothe opponent is.”

Joel Embiidhad 30 points and 11 rebounds for Philadelphia, his 27th game thisseason scoring 30 or more and his ninth in the past 10. But he alsoled the Sixers in turnovers with six, got into foul trouble in thefourth quarter and was visibly frustrated by Orlando’s physicaldefense.

The Magicforced 19 turnovers and held Philly to 19 points in the fourthquarter. The 21-point deficit was the largest Orlando has overcomethis season and the sixth-largest in franchise history.

The Magicmethodically worked their way back from the early hole, trimmingthe Sixers’ lead to 10 points at halftime. Orlando went ahead forthe first time on a 3-pointer by Gary Harris in the thirdquarter.

“We justwanted to challenge them and turn the heat up,” Banchero said. “Weweren’t doing that in the first half and gave them too many easybuckets. You’re not going to stop Embiid, you just have tochallenge him and make it difficult on him and we did a goodjob.”

The Magictook the lead for good with 7:03 to play when Mo Wagner made areverse layup, was fouled and converted the free throw. Wagnerconverted another three-point play 19 seconds later when he wasfouled by Embiid on a driving layup.

Sixers coachDoc Rivers unsuccessfully challenged the foul call on Embiid,insisting his big man had established defensive position.

Cole Anthonyfollowed with a 3-pointer to complete a 9-0 Orlando run, and theSixers got no closer than six points the rest of the way.

“I don’tthink we played with any pace,” Rivers said. “Their pressure, theirphysicality ... they got into us. We turned the ball over. We wereflopping to try to draw fouls. We just turned it off and couldn’tget it back.”

Tobias Harrisand James Harden scored 17 points apiece for the Sixers.

TIP-INS

Magic: Almostfour years after the Sixers traded him to Orlando, Markelle Fultzplayed his first game in Philadelphia as a visitor. The former No.1 overall draft pick has been injured each time the Magic played inPhilly since the trade, although he played a road game against theSixers in 2020 during the pandemic bubble in Florida. Fultzfinished with 12 points and 10 assists and said the experience was“amazing.”

76ers:Philadelphia has been the hottest team in the NBA for nearly twomonths but has benefited from playing the league’s third-easiestschedule entering Monday night’s game. The Sixers have thesecond-toughest remaining schedule and will play 17 games in March,including 11 on the road.