By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers led by as may as 18 during tonight's game, but the Orlando Magic scored 41 points in the third to rally and earn the victory, 103-101. Two costly turnovers down the stretch from Joel Embiid and a flagrant foul from T.J. McConnell helped the Magic spoil what looked to be the Sixers first win of the year.
On the bright side of things, Dario Saric got out of his slump, Joel Embiid put together another strong performance and Sergio Rodriguez continued to impress as the teams' starting point guard. With the loss, the Sixers have doubled the record for the most consecutive losses in October/November with 40. The next closest losing streak is Memphis with 20 during the 1995-96 season.
Standout Performances:
Sixers
- Dario Saric - Dario snapped out of his 4-for-21 slump and looked very strong on offense tonight against the Magic. His shots didn't fall short like they did in the Sixers' first two games and he also was active on the offensive glass, putting up some nice shots under the basket with plenty of pressure. He finished with 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting
- Hollis Thompson - One of the longest tenured Sixers over the past few years, Thompson proved his worth off the bench, shooting lights out from pretty much everywhere on the floor. He led the Sixers with 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting, including 4-4 from beyond the arc.
- Sergio Rodriguez - Sergio showed once again why he is the starting point guard for this team. He finds the open man with quick, efficient, pinpoint passes. Tonight, he scored 12 points to go along with 11 assists and five rebounds to notch his first double-double of the season.
Honorable mention: Joel Embiid (18P, 10R, 4BLK, 4TO), Gerald Henderson (18P, 4R)
Magic
- Nik Vucevic - The former Sixer came into tonight's game averaging 20 points an 13.2 rebounds against Philadelphia and he continued his success tonight, scoring a game-high 24 points to go along with 14 rebounds while shooting 11-for-16.
- Serge Ibaka - Ibaka's free throws within the final seconds of the game sealed the victory for Orlando, but the former Thunder forward was effective all game, scoring 21 points and grabbing four rebounds. He also blocked two shots.
- Elfrid Payton - Philadelphia traded Payton for the rights to Dario Saric back in the 2014 draft and the third-year point man put together an impressive game tonight, tallying a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. Payton hit some clutch shots down the stretch, including one where the Sixers defense was non-existent.
Honorable mention: Evan Fornier (17P, 5R, 5A)
Game Rewind:
The Sixers started quickly, sprinting to a 14-2 lead early in this one over the Magic. Orlando staged a 17-5 run of of their own to tie things at 19 a piece. Gerald Henderson led the Sixers early surge, scoring nine points on 4-for-6 shooting from the floor. Philadelphia also hit four of six from beyond the arc in the first quarter, with two coming courtesy of Dario Saric, who came into tonight's matchup with just four makes in 21 shots. After one, Philadelphia led 29-24 following threes from Saric and Hollis Thompson.
Dario Saric continued to settle in during the second quarter, hitting a tough mid-range jumper while also cleaning up the offensive glass for a bucket to put the Sixers up 12 with 9:12 to play in the half. The Sixers led by as many as 18 in the second quarter, with Joel Embiid heating up with a 10-foot jumper and a nice alley-oop jam from Sergio Rodriguez to put them ahead 48-34. Embiid showed his versatility in this quarter as well, blocking a shot at one end just to run down to the other end of the court and pick up an offensive board from a Henderson miss to put it back up for two.
Everything seemed to fall for Philadelphia in the first half, as they shot 53.3 percent from the floor to head into the locker rooms with a 57-43 lead. At the half, Gerald Henderson and Hollis Thompson led the team with 13 points a piece, followed by Saric with 12 and Embiid with 10. Joel added six rebounds and three blocks (see below) while Sergio Rodriguez dished out eight first half assists. Meanwhile, Nik Vucevic continued his success against his former team, dropping game-high 14 points through the first two quarters.
Three blocks in under 3 minutes. https://t.co/BnXOlbTWuE
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) November 2, 2016
Gerald Henderson and Dario Saric each hit three's to open up the scoring for Philadelphia in the second half, putting them back up by 14, 64-50. The Sixers extended their lead to as many as 18 before Nik Vucevic took over. Orlando cut the lead to three with just over five and a half minutes to play in the third, hitting all 11 of their shots to that point. Vucevic scored eight points in the third to up his total to 22 on 10-for-11 shooting.
The Sixers, though, began to put some good possessions together as T.J. McConnell found Richaun Holmes for an explosive alley-oop before Hollis Thompson hit his fourth three-ball of the night during their next trip down the court to keep the advantage at seven, 79-72. With under a minute to go and the Sixers ahead by three, Evan Fournier hit a shot from beyond the arc to tie things at 82. Philadelphia would head into the final 12 minutes ahead by three following a Joel Embiid jumper from just inside the arc to make it 87-84.
The Sixers came out to score the first two buckets of the fourth to extend their lead to seven with just under nine minutes to play. Coming out of a timeout, Sergio Rodriguez nailed a long-range shot to notch his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists to that point. His three put Philadelphia ahead by 10, 94-84 with about 8:30 to play. Orlando cut the Sixers lead to four thanks to a 7-2 run with just over six minutes left in the game. Dario Saric picked upped his total to 21 points with just under four minutes to go, putting the Sixers up 99-95.
Joel Embiid came up with two clutch free throws to put Philadelphia up 101-97 before blocking Vucevic on the other end to preserve the lead. With under a minute to go, though, the Magic were within two and locked things up at 101 courtesy of an Evan Fournier bank shot with 27.7 left in the game. Joel Embiid committed a costly turnover with five seconds left and the Magic gained possession. T.J. McConnell fouled Serge Ibaka after a scramble for the ball, sending the Orlando big man to the line for two and the ball back with the refs ruling the foul flagrant. Ibaka hit both shots to seal the win for the Magic in a heartbreaking defeat for Philadelphia.
Up Next:
The Sixers head to Charlotte for their first road game of the year on Wednesday night. As part of a back-to-back, Joel Embiid will not travel with the team while Jahlil Okafor is expected to play at least 20 minutes. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
