Sixers done in by Nelson as Magic slither past Philadelphia

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The 76ers were able to humble a Jameer Nelson-free Magic squad late last month.

Wednesday night, Orlando had the Chester native back on the floor. And Nelson saw the Sixers' humbling and raised them a humiliation.

Nelson toyed with the Sixers, hitting Ryan Anderson for open looks at 3-pointers, finding Dwight Howard for easy layups and running Sixers point guard Jrue Holiday out of the game, out of town and practically out of the hemisphere. Nelson topped off the domination by draining a 3-pointer to close Orlando's scoring in a 103-87 thumping at Amway Center.

Nelson finished with 12 points, 14 assists and a ton of respect from Doug Collins, who practically foretold the veteran's sway before the game.

"I call him the 'head of the snake,'" Collins said of Nelson. "There are guys on a team who makes it go for them. Obviously everything revolves around Dwight Howard inside for them, but Jameer Nelson is a great leader and tough.

"I've always felt Jameer is the guy who makes that team go. He's seen every kind of defense, gets them their 3-point shots, penetrates, gets the ball inside to Dwight ... We consider him one of the elite point guards in the NBA."

Nelson got the Magic (19-11) flying out of the gate, picking up five assists in the opening seven minutes as Orlando sprinted to a 23-6 lead.

"The start of the game killed us," Collins said. "We were passive offensively, passing up shots. Then we missed shots, a lot of easy shots. I think it played with our psyche a lot."

Anderson, who was named a participant in the 3-Point Shootout at the All-Star Weekend, showed he perhaps deserved a spot on the East roster for the Main Event. He finished with a game-high 27 points, dropping seven 3-pointers on the team with the second-best defense against treys in the NBA entering the night. Orlando made 15 of 25 3-pointers on the night.

"Jameer's our leader, our general," Anderson said. "He really drew the defense into the paint and kicked it out to our shooters. Fourteen assists is pretty amazing, but he can do that. It's not a huge surprise

"It starts with Jameer. He was in attack mode. He did things early in the game to throw off their defense."

Attack mode seemed to be the catch phrase for the Magic in this one. And Nelson was like a tame bull.

"The team looks to me for energy. It's all about me attacking," he said. "It's never been about me just shooting or passing. When I'm in attack mode, it's about making the right play when it's there. Tonight and a lot of nights, because of the way we shoot the ball, it's going to be for someone else if I'm drawing the next guy."

After falling in that 17-point hole, the Sixers made a few pushes, only to have the Magic push back at the end of the second and third quarters. In the second quarter a pair of Andre Iguodala free throws got the Sixers within six, 45-39, with 1:59 remaining. But Nelson fueled a 10-0 run by Orlando in the final two minutes, finding Anderson and Hedo Turkoglu for 3-pointers and making a jumper at the buzzer to send the Magic into intermission with a 55-39 lead.

"I thought Lou (Williams) got tired there at the end of the half, and I took him out," Collins said. "And in that two minutes, we gave up a 10-0 run."

Holiday had replaced Williams during that run and committed a turnover and missed a pair of shots. Holiday was simply awful all night, shooting 1-for-8 from the floor and committing five turnovers. He coughed up the ball twice in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter and had to be pulled off the court.

"It's not about Jrue, you just want to play the best defense you can," Nelson said. "Sometimes that guy is going to light you up, because this is the NBA. Tonight he just didn't have a very good game."

In the third quarter, Iguodala scored 10 of the Sixers' first 15 points as they again chipped away and got within 75-70 with a minute remaining in the quarter. But Orlando scored the final four points, pushing its lead back to nine. That was the last run the Sixers had in them.

Nelson, meanwhile, dominated.

"I think he plays with a chip on his shoulder. I love that," Collins said of Nelson. "He stayed four years in college, and I so admire and respect that. What he did at St. Joe's ... to me he was one of those guys who got lost (in the draft) and a lot of younger guys were taken ahead of him on potential. He went later, and he plays with a great deal of confidence. He's a great leader."

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