ORLANDO, Fla. _ It's been a while, but 76ers fans can once again raise the cat.
T.J. McConnell's game-winner lifted the Sixers to a 112-111 victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday night at the Amway Center. And as Sixers fan Dennis Grove started doing on Jan. 13, several of the team's followers have been hoisting cats after victories.
So Thursday was definitely a long-awaited time for that.
McConnell scored on a nine-foot floater with 5.8 seconds left to give the Sixers a one-point lead. Then the point guard stole a pass on the ensuing possession to clinch the win.
McConnell finished with eight points, eight assists, five rebounds, three steals and zero turnovers in 29 minutes, 49 seconds.
The Sixers (19-34) snapped a five-game losing streak. It was their second victory in nine games. The Magic were perhaps the perfect team to play in that situation.
Orlando (20-35) extended its losing streak to four games and has lost 17 of 22. It didn't help matters that Aaron Gordon was sidelined with a bone bruise in his right foot.
But don't expect the Sixers to feel sorry for the Magic. Joel Embiid missed his eighth consecutive game and 11th in the last 12 after suffering a bone bruise in his left knee on Jan. 20.
The Sixers missed 15 of their first 17 shots in the fourth quarter. Despite that, they kept things competitive.
Dario Saric hit a pair of foul shots with 1 minute, 17 seconds left to pull the Sixers within 109-108. Then Saric scored a layup to give them the lead with 35 seconds left.
But the Magic went ahead, 111-109, on Nik Vucevic's 7-foot hook shot over Nik Stauskas with 26.7 seconds left.
The Sixers had a chance to take the lead.
Saric dribbled baseline before bringing the ball out. But he had a miscommunication on his pass to Ersan Ilyasova. The ball went out of bounds, but it was touched by the Magic before doing it did. The Sixers regained possession with 16.0 seconds remaining.
Then Ilyasova had a corner three blocked by Vucevic. After bouncing on the court, the ball hit off the backboard and out of bounds. Officials ruled a jump ball for Ilyasova and Evan Fournier. McConnell got the ball before providing his game-ending heroics.
Saric paced the Sixers with 24 points. Ilyasova added 16. Nik Stauskas (13 points), Sergio Rodriguez (12) and Nerlens Noel (10) were their other double-figure scorers.
Fournier led Orlando with 24 points.
