James Harden narrowly misses triple-double as Sixers pull away from Orlando Magic

Georges Niang swiped a bad pass from Franz Wagner and dished to Tyrese Maxey, who could finally casually dribble the ball to bleed the game clock.

Following a surprising flop against the Orlando Magic Monday night, the 76ers ensured there would be no repeat disappointment by using a fourth-quarter surge to pull away to a 105-94 victory Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center.

“When you play a team twice, it’s going to be a slugfest,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I didn’t think we played great, but we played good enough to win. You’ll take that. We just didn’t have a great rhythm. … I thought we could have gotten [our lead] to 20 [points] several times.”

The Sixers (33-17) have now won eight of nine games and are 21-5 since Dec. 9. But the young and athletic Magic (20-32) again made things difficult on the Sixers, who surrendered another double-digit first-half lead to create a game that was tight into the fourth quarter.

The Sixers made their decisive charge with a 16-4 run after a Jalen Suggs three-pointer cut the lead to 82-81. The run was fueled by the long ball — Shake Milton, James Harden, Maxey, and Niang all buried three-pointers as NBA leading scorer Joel Embiid passed out of an array of double-teams — along with a defense that held the Magic to 16 fourth-quarter points on 5-of-18 shooting.

“We got some stops,” said Embiid, who finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds and was tasked with switching defensively more than usual. “We were more physical than the other night. They felt us.”

Harden flirted with a triple-double with 26 points (including 6-of-10 from three-point range), 10 assists, and nine rebounds (and seven turnovers), while Tobias Harris finished with 16 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting, five rebounds, five assists, and two blocks.

What was a 14-point first-quarter advantage swiftly dwindled to 39-35 in the non-Embiid minutes, then to 52-51 late in the first half. The Magic got within 68-66 on a Markelle Fultz finish with 6 minutes, 25 seconds left in the third quarter, before Harden answered with a three-pointer and then found Harris in transition for a layup. The Sixers extended their lead to 80-70 on a Niang layup with 3:09 to play in the period.

The Sixers next play three consecutive road games starting on Friday at the San Antonio Spurs, and then Sunday at the New York Knicks and next Wednesday at the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics.

The Sixers’ second unit struggled offensively, particularly while Embiid was off the floor in the first half. The normally dynamic Maxey went 2-of-11 from the floor for 10 points, and the normally sharpshooting Niang missed five of his six three-point attempts.

Rivers said he noticed frustration early with Maxey, who continues to adjust to his sixth-man role, while driving against the Magic’s long defenders.

“Sometimes it’s kind of hard to find your rhythm, you know?” Maxey said. “But it’s OK. We won, and that’s what matters.”

Both Maxey and Niang, however, were in the closing lineup and made key shots down the stretch. After their three-pointers as part of the Sixers’ fourth-quarter run, Maxey got behind the defense for a layup that made the score 103-92 with 3:39 to go.

Perhaps the best overall offensive stretch from a reserve came from Milton. In nine first-half minutes, he made a crafty shot at the rim and hit a three, pulled down three rebounds, and dished to Embiid for a make at the first-quarter buzzer. Milton also hit a key three-pointer after the Magic had cut the deficit to 82-81 early in the final period.

As the Magic made their second-quarter charge, Rivers replaced backup center Montrezl Harrell (two points, four rebounds in 11 minutes) with Paul Reed. After Reed was, as Rivers described, rusty in his timing in three first-half minutes, Harrell was again Embiid’s sub late in the third period.

Within Harrell’s first minute, he committed an offensive foul and fouled Mo Wagner on a made finish inside to help the Magic cut the deficit to 82-78. He also missed a putback in the fourth quarter’s opening minute, before throwing down a dunk that gave the Sixers a 95-85 lead with less than seven minutes to play.

“I’m going to play them both,” said Rivers, who called Harrell’s play “really good” in the second half. “They’re just going to have to push each other.

In a game that was close (82-78) going into the final period, the Sixers’ excellent free-throw shooting proved meaningful. They made their first 21 foul shots and finished 23-of-26, while the Magic missed four of their first five attempts from the stripe before rebounding to go 22-of-29 overall.

Embiid went 10-of-10 from the line, while Harden was 6-of-7 and Maxey connected on five of his six attempts.

The Sixers’ success from the free-throw line is not surprising, as they entered Wednesday ranked second in the NBA in free-throw accuracy (82.5%). Orlando’s initial struggles, meanwhile, were uncharacteristic, as they entered the game 12th (79.1%).

The Sixers’ primary issues during Monday’s loss against crept up again as the Magic chopped away at their deficit.

After a strong first quarter, the Sixers finished with 19 turnovers against the Magic’s aggressive defense that they parlayed into 24 points. Orlando also totaled 13 fastbreak points and 18 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds (including four from Wendell Carter Jr.).

But the Sixers also collected 20 fastbreak points, and cleaned up those other deficiencies when it mattered most. In the fourth quarter, the Magic did not score off the Sixers’ three turnovers, totaled just three points in transition and did not score any second-chance points.