Philadelphia vs. Orlando: Sixers Have No One to Cover Ryan Anderson

The Philadelphia 76ers may have played their worst first half of the season in tonight's loss to the Orlando Magic, 103-87.

This one play, repeated multiple times, summarizes the half.  Jameer Nelson drives the lane. The Sixers' aggressive defense collapses inside knowing that if the ball goes into Dwight Howard, they will need to double-team him. Meanwhile, Ryan Anderson has slipped outside to the wing. Nelson dishes to Anderson, who hits an uncontested three-point shot.

Anderson outscored the Sixers' starting lineup 14-13 in the first quarter. He hit four of five three-point shots, three of them from the same spot in the right corner. The Sixers' starting five shot a dismal 5-for-21 in the first half. When the Sixers tried to drive the hoop, they were thwarted by the presence of Dwight Howard. So they just started to throw up 19- and 20-foot jumpers. As a result of all those outside shots and little penetration, the Sixers did not shoot a free throw until 1:59 remaining in the second quarter.

The Night Shift did manage to close the gap to six points at 45-39 in the second quarter. But then the Magic's starting unit scored the last 10 points to close the half at 55-39. 

Andre Iguodala tried to take the team on his back to start the second half. He hit five shots in a row and had a steal, plus a nice assist. With a 20-10 spurt to start the half, the Sixers eventually trimmed the lead to 75-70. But several times when it looked like the Sixers would get in position to catch up, the Nelson-to-Anderson act showed up again.

Anderson ended up shooting 7-for-10 downtown and finished up with 27 points. Howard had a double-double with 14 rebounds and 17 points for the Magic.

For the Sixers, Lavoy Allen was ineffective and a liability on defense. Jrue Holiday and Jodie Meeks shot a combined 3-for-15. Lou Williams led the Sixers in scoring with 21.

The title of one of my recent articles was "It Is Hard to Win without a Center."  Tonight's game proved this again. Nikola Vucevic played gamely, scoring 10 points off the bench. But unless Spencer Hawes can get back into the lineup or the Sixers can make a trade for a decent experienced center, the wheels are going to start falling off this bus pretty soon.

You can follow Professor Bush on Twitter @Prof_Bush.