PHILADELPHIA (AP) Orlando coach Scott Skiles called it a must-win game, and the Magic found a way.
A nice scoring night was barely better than a shoddy defensive performance.
Vucevic scored a season-high 35 points against his former team, leading the Magic to a 124-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
Vucevic, drafted 16th overall by the 76ers in 2011, also had nine rebounds and four assists, helping Orlando bounce back from a 105-102 home loss to Indiana. The Magic have won four of six while trying to gain ground in pursuit of their first playoff berth in four years.
“I wanted to come out and lead the way so they can follow me,” said Vucevic, who was 13 for 21 from the field and 9 for 9 at the line.
Victor Oladipo added 22 points and Evan Fournier scored 21 for the Magic, who return home on Thursday to host the NBA-best Golden State Warriors. Aaron Gordon contributed a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“Golden State will score 300 on us if we play like that,” Skiles said. “Of course, we’re glad to get a win. But even finishing out the game, just throwing the ball all around and stuff, it’s hard to feel good about it.”
Ish Smith scored 22 points and Jahlil Okafor had 17 for the NBA-worst 76ers, who dropped to 8-48 with their fifth straight loss and 10th in the last 12. Okafor was coming off a career-best 31-point outing in Philadelphia’s 129-103 loss at Dallas on Sunday. Nerlens Noel added 16 points and 11 rebounds.
The 76ers have allowed an average of 122 points in their last four losses.
“The energy’s not where we need it to be,” Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. “That starting group’s got to get going, really. We need better defense from that starting group.”
Vucevic played his rookie season for Philadelphia before being dealt over the summer to the Magic, who continue to reap the benefits. But Orlando didn’t need his scoring during a pivotal 11-2 run to open the fourth quarter, capped by Jason Smith’s jumper that made it 108-95 with 8:36 remaining. Smith, another former 76er, had six points during the Magic’s spurt, which proved too much for Philadelphia to overcome.
“We came out really aggressive, but our defense didn’t keep up with our offense,” Vucevic said. “In the fourth quarter, we were able to turn up our defense and get a few stops.”
The 76ers looked good in the third quarter when they erased a five-point halftime deficit by hitting 12 of their first 15 shots and had their largest lead at 83-77 on Noel’s alley-oop dunk. But Orlando outscored Philadelphia 20-10 over the final 6:28 of the third to enter the fourth quarter up 97-93.