ORLANDO, Fla. — Center Nikola Vucevic and guard Victor Oladipo each scored 28 points while leading the Orlando Magic to a 130-116 victory over the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night at the Amway Center.
The Magic (26-23) led from start to finish in snapping a two-game losing streak. The Sixers (8-51) lost their eighth consecutive game. They never got close than eight points in the final period.
Magic forward Aaron Gordon scored a career-high 22 points. Rookie guard Mario Hezonja, in his first career start, had 13 points and made two of his three 3-point attempts. Reserve center Jason Smith added 12 points. Point guard Elfrid Payton had 11 points, including eight in the final three minutes, and 10 assists. Backup forward Ersan Ilyasova contributed 10 points.
Center Jahlil Okafor led the Sixers with 26 points. Reserve guard Isaiah Canaan had 18 points. Guard Ish Smith had 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Reserve forwards Jerami Grant and Richaun Holmes had 13 and 12 points, respectively, and forward Nerlens Noel scored 10.
The Magic led by as many as 23 points early in the fourth quarter. After the Sixers rallied to get within eight points late in the game, Payton kept the Magic afloat by scoring eight of the team’s last 12 points.
The Sixers closed the third period with an 18-5 run, cutting the deficit to 15 points. Smith had 12 points and Okafor 11 in the third to lead the rally. The Magic led by as many as 29 points, their largest advantage of the game, midway in the third.
Vucevic left the game early in the third quarter when he was hit in the face with an elbow on a dunk by Grant. He returned to start the fourth.
The Magic led 77-51 at intermission, their highest scoring half of the season. They were one point shy of the franchise record for points in a first half.
Oladipo had 19 points in 20 first-half minutes. Vucevic and Gordan each had 18 points in the first two quarters. Okafor had 12 first-half points for the Sixers.
The Magic scored the game’s first eight points, and they had 40 in the first quarter. The Sixers shot well early but they didn’t shoot enough because of 12 turnovers in the first half that became 21 points for the Magic.
For the game, Philadelphia shot 53.2 percent from the floor but committed 17 turnovers. Orlando shot 57 percent and gave the ball away 12 times.
NOTES: Magic rookie G Mario Hezonja made his first career start Sunday night, and he wasted no time getting into the mix. Hezonja took the opening tip, drove and dunked just six seconds into the game. He started in place of G Evan Fournier, who missed a game for the first time this season. … Fournier had a sore right wrist, an injury first sustained a week ago. He previously was the only Magic player to have played in every game this season. Fournier scored 20 or more points in three of the previous four games. … The Sixers lost by an average of 15.1 points in their previous four games. … Philadelphia returns to action Monday in Washington against the Wizards, who beat them Friday by nine points. … Orlando plays the Mavericks on Dallas on Tuesday.