Philadelphia 76ers rout the Magic for seventh straight win

The Philadelphia 76ers remain undefeated post All-Star break with their seventh consecutive win, this time against the Orlando Magic.

The Philadelphia 76ers put on a show for their home crowd on Social Night at the Wells Fargo Center.

After trailing the Orlando Magic for much of the first quarter, the 76ers went into the second up by nine and didn’t trail again for the remained of the evening.

In arguably the team’s most dominant win of 2018, Brett Brown‘s squad put up 116 points, their eight-highest total of the season and did so with little resistance. While the team’s starting five got theirs, scoring 81 points in 132 combined minutes, coach Brown actually pulled his starters midway through the third quarter and allowed his second unit to bring the team in for a landing, recording their seventh straight win by a score of 116-105.

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With six players finishing the game scoring in double digits, including the starting five and Hawks castoff Marco Belinelli, Coach Brown sent minor shockwaves through the Well Fargo Center by giving seemingly forgotten man Richaun Holmes the backup center minutes ahead of Amir Johnson, the team’s typical veteran reserve.

While Holmes only scored four points, he hauled in eight rebounds and served as a sparkplug for the team’s second unit, something they’ve sorely been missing this season.

While Holmes has only appeared in 10 games for the 76ers in 2018, his continued progression from a bench warming second round pick to a legitimate NBA caliber big man has been fun to watch and will continue to be something fans should keep an eye on moving forward. Though Joel Embiid has been playing over 30 minutes a night with regularity as of late, the team does eventually have to settle on a complementary player who can take up the team’s leftover center minutes moving forward, and Holmes could end up being the big man for the job.

Speaking of Embiid, in addition to leading all players in scoring, and recording a 28-14 double-double, The Process confirmed that he has officially been cleared to play in back-to-back games moving forward, and will dress for the team’s next game against the Washington Wizards. While this confirmation obviously would have been nice to receive from the team’s medical staff, as opposed to Embiid in a post-game interview, it still feels like a step in the right direction and could signal that his health concerns are finally becoming a thing of the past.

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For a Sixers squad who has often played down to their level of competition, this win was a statement that the team can win games they should, and do so in commanding fashion. While beating a team like the Wizards will be a true test of the team’s mettle, as both squads are playoff bound, don’t discount the importance of the Sixers trouncing the Magic in front of a 20,000 screaming Philly fans. In the NBA, good teams beat up on bad teams, and the Philadelphia 76ers are finally becoming a good team.