Sixers Eliminated 114-89

The No. 6 seed 76ers were just eliminated by the No. 3 seed Orlando Magic at the Wachovia Center in a game that much of the Philly faithful viewed as a freebie.

With Dwight Howard banned from the game after giving an elbow to the head of Sammy Dalembert Tuesday night in Orlando and Courtney Lee knocked out of the series with a sinus fracture, the Sixers rode into the game on a high note with the Magic missing two of their best weapons. But they couldn’t find a way to capitalize and moped through the game after being outscored 30-19 in the first quarter.

The Sixers strayed from their game plan the previous four contests where they largely left Howard alone in the paint in order to cover the perimeter and prevent 3-pointers. Without Superman tonight, the Sixers decided to keep their defense in the paint, thus allowing Orlando to hit 3-pointer after 3-pointer until DiLeo’s group was buried 22 points down in the fourth quarter.

“It went by too fast,” said a visibly shell shocked Andre Miller after the game. “It felt like a blur of them just hitting shots left and right. I don’t even feel like we played a game. They hit threes, we watched them, and the game was over.”

The Sixers stumbled into the playoffs with a 41-41 record, having lost eight of their last 12. They pulled off a 100-98 win in Game One in Orlando, but the momentum was shattered by Orlando’s 96-87 rebuttal in Game Two at the Amway Arena last Wednesday night. The Sixers managed a nice 96-94 victory in Game Three, but lost the next two meetings and forced an elimination game tonight at home.

“They beat us in every category,” said head coach Tony DiLeo during the post-game conference. “We never really had a chance in this game.”

No chance, despite the absence of Dwight Howard and Courtney Lee.

“They just did a better job than us in every aspect of the game,” said Andre Iguodala. “They just showed that they were a mentally tougher team.”

Aside from team chemistry and desire, the Sixers face several question marks in the offseason. Current head coach Tony DiLeo is likely to be replaced by a person outside of the organization and guard Andre Miller will reach unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career.

But on a happier note, at least Sammy D sent the Magic on their way to the next round with love. In the third quarter of tonight’s game, Dalembert planted a kiss on the forehead of a heated Hedo Turkoglu who confronted Dalembert after receiving what looked to be an unintentional smack to the face during an Orlando offensive drive. Turkoglu fought off Sammy’s advances and was called for a technical foul, then subsequently ejected from the game.