The Amway Arena – at least for one night – was rather silent on Sunday when the Philadelphia 76ers took on the Orlando Magic.  I obviously do not know where they found it, but the 76ers, despite 31 points from Dwight Howard, somehow managed to rally from an 18-point deficit to slip past the Magic 100-98.

Philadelphia managed to withstand an early Orlando run; Thaddeus Young made consecutive 3-point plays which helped the Sixers take a 27-21 lead in the forst quarter.  But Howard basically punked the 76ers big men – the frontcourt, if you will – as he had his way, scoring 18 first-half points with 7 rebounds; the Magic, despite Howard’s heroics, took a narrow 50-46 lead into their locker room at halftime.

The third quarter was all Orlando as Courtney Lee’s hot shooting and more muscle from Howard highlighted a 15-3 run, which culminated into an 18-point cushion.  But Philadelphia rolled off eight straight points in the fourth quarter and eventually tied things up at 91-all with less than 4 minutes left on an Andre Miller layup; after a Howard dunk put the Magic up 98-95 with 49.1 seconds remaining in the game, Donyell Marshall responded with a 3-pointer for the Sixers then Iguodala would hit the game-winner with 2.2 seconds left, sealing the win.

Philadelphia was led by the aforementioned Iguodala with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists but committed 5 turnovers while Lou Williams added 18 from off the bench  (including three treys) with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal; Miller chipped in 15 with 7 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal.

Orlando’s high scorer was Howard with 31 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks while Lee added 18 with 2 rebounds, an assist and a steal; Rafer Alston and Rashard Lewis contributed 15 each – with Alston grabbing 2 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists while Lewis grabbed 3 boards and dished out 3 assists.  Philadelphia and Orlando meet again on Wednesday from Amway Arena for Game 2 of the best-of-7 series.