Shorthanded and small Sixers get crushed on the glass, blow late lead vs. Magic

In a season full of demoralizing losses, the Sixers suffered yet another Sunday in Orlando.

Two wins in one day? Not in this city.

In case you were busy, the Sixers fell to the Orlando Magic 104-99 Sunday evening.

Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 29 points, shooting 7-of-19 from the floor and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. He also 12-of-13 from the free throw line.

Paul George had another strong second half, finishing with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, but he fouled out with a little less than three minutes remaining. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Eric Gordon were the only other Sixers to reach double digits. Cole Anthony led the Magic with 27.

Not only did Joel Embiid miss his fourth straight game, but Caleb Martin was also ruled out with right groin soreness.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

• A pair of turnovers made it easy for the Magic to rip off an 8-0 run in the opening minutes. The Sixers got to the line a couple times — once from a nice Maxey and-1, then Gordon drew a foul getting up a three. Maxey had an early injury scare as well with his hand but stayed in the game.
• The Magic only turned the ball over three times early, but all three of those were steals that the Sixers capitalized on. As offense continued to be a struggle, Maxey did a good job at drawing contact. Five of his 10 first-quarter points came from the free throw line.

• As if another reminder was needed that both of these team’s defenses are better than offense, only one field goal was scored in the last 4:24 of the quarter — a dunk from Paolo Banchero. Despite a really sloppy end, the Sixers only trailed by three after the first.

Second Quarter

• Adding Guerschon Yabusele to the second unit with PG made it easier on the offense in theory. In practice, they still ran a ton of pick-and-rolls through Jeff Dowtin Jr. and Reggie Jackson. Justin Edwards was back in the rotation and he made his first two baskets of the game.
• Someone who was not struggling offensively was Anthony, who made eight of his first nine shots of the game to have a game-high 20 at the half. While the Sixers got a few deflections early, they weren’t keeping many guys in front of them.
• Orlando did a good job of taking care of the ball for much of the half, but the Sixers poked free a couple more steals to bring them back. Maxey knocked down just the third three of the game for Philly to pull them within one at the break.

Third Quarter

• Turning the Magic over helped the Sixers hang around, but they were certainly doing a worse job of taking care of the ball. They turned it over on their first five possessions of the half, none of which the Magic had to work especially hard to get.
• Once the Sixers stopped giving the ball away, they were actually able to get into a bit of a rhythm. Dumping the ball to Yabu in the post had good results, Gordon had a nice stretch, and George got some jumpers to fall as well.
• PG continued to hit shots, but the offense started to live or die on his pull-ups. He had 11 in the quarter as the Sixers took a four-point lead.

Fourth Quarter

• This time it was Maxey opening up the quarter with the bench unit. It started well — Edwards saved a possession with a runner and Yabusele slipped through the lane for a reverse layup. Keeping Orlando off the offensive glass was a struggle all night though, and that small-ball lineup was no different.

• It took Maxey halfway through the fourth to score his first points of the second half. He drew a foul but fell hard on the hand he hurt in the first half. George and Gordon knocked down a pair of threes to break a four-minute field goal drought and buoy the lead.
• Something that’s been an issue for PG the last 10 games or so is foul trouble. It was really a problem tonight as he picked up his sixth with 2:49 remaining, just after he had retaken the lead with a pull-up three. Especially with Embiid dealing with an ailment, George can’t be taking himself out of games like this.
• The Magic retook the lead as Banchero was able to draw a foul off a double team. After a string of free throws that gave them a four-point lead, Maxey answered with a three. Banchero answered with an elbow jumper off of another offensive rebound, and Maxey’s attempt to tie it was no good. This was an uphill battle, but another winnable game the Sixers let slip away.
• It only gets tougher. The Sixers come home for a midweek back-to-back, starting with the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET.