After being embarrassed at home on Friday night, Philadelphia flew to Orlando to take on, the much-improved Magic, who are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The 76ers were without Joel Embiid again, who was missing his fourth straight game with a left foot sprain. In the first quarter, Philadelphia came out hot, thanks to guard Tyrese Maxey, who scored 11 points in the quarter, and led the 76ers on a 11-2 run. Orlando did finish the quarter strong, thanks to Cole Anthony, who scored 11, as he made 5 of 6 shots, and led 24-21 after one, as they shot 56% from the field. In the second quarter, thanks to multiple turnovers from Orlando near the end of the quarter, and a 11-3 run by the 76ers cut the deficit to 49-48 at half. In the second half, Philadelphia took a four-point lead after three quarters, thanks to Paul George hitting two 3-pointers, and going on a 20-8 burst to end the quarter. Orlando amassed 12 turnovers through three quarters. In the fourth quarter, Philadelphia was gassed, as George fouled with around three minutes to go, and Orlando went on a 18-8 spurt, and the victory, 104-99. So, after another frustrating loss what do you take away from this game? Well, here are 3 from the game tonight.

1. Cold early, not clutch late

The 76ers were just awful in the first quarter, as they could not hit any shot from long range, while on defense the Magic looked like they were just toying the 76ers, even though they only had a three-point lead. Even though, the 76ers were down one at half, they were just could not make a bucket. They shot 41% from the field, and 25% from 3-point range. In the second half, and mostly in the fourth quarter, Philadelphia did not get help where they needed tonight in two areas. The Magic bench outscored the 76ers bench, 48-11, and they dominated the glass, outrebounding Philadelphia, 41-29, including 12 offensively.

2. The guards showed up

Now, two players, who came to play were Maxey and Anthony. In the first half, Maxey scored 22 and made all 10 of his free throws, while Anthony scored 20 for the Magic on 9-13 shooting. Maxey was needed to be counted on with Embiid out, while Anthony was the only Orlando shooter, who seemed to be engaged. In fact, the other four starters combined for just 12 points. Although, he did not have a good shooting night, Maxey finished with 24, while Anthony finished with 27 points, as he went 11-17 from the field.

3. The six-pack gauntlet

No, this will not quench your thirst, but instead over the next ten days, Philadelphia will be facing top-tier competition. It starts, on Tuesday and Wednesday, in which they will play back-to-back home games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks. This will be followed by another back-to-back next weekend at Indiana to face the Pacers and then they will face the Milwaukee Bucks. Finally, the three-game road trip will conclude on the 21^st against the Denver Nuggets, and then on the 24^th, they will return home to face the Cleveland Cavaliers. It will be a huge test to see, not only can this team get back into the playoff hunt, but which players will actually show up and play.

-David Weightman/ Olde City Sports Network