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Philadelphia 76ers Make it Three in a Row With a win vs. Magic

Without Ben Simmons in the lineup on Friday night against the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown urged his other stars to step up in the two time All-Star's absence. Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and even Alec Burks were willing to rise up to the occasion, but it didn't seem that way in the beginning.

At first, it looked like a tough task. The 76ers came out flat on Friday night and looked like they were gearing up to play another four quarters of uninspiring basketball. Although they kept it close through the first half, the Sixers were struggling offensively as they shot just 38-percent from the field and 29-percent from deep. Luckily for Philly, the Magic weren't doing much better. 

But the Sixers flipped a switch coming out of the half. Joel Embiid, who had just six points through two quarters, stepped up in the third quarter and rallied for 12 points. And once the fourth quarter rolled around, Embiid, Harris, Horford, and Burks off the bench all felt the urgency to get ahead of Orlando and try to put the game away with a win.

The team's starting guards Shake Milton and Josh Richardson had a forgettable night. But the other three starters picked up the slack as Embiid and Harris both collected 23 points each, while Horford quietly contributed to 21 points. Meanwhile, Philly's emerging star off the bench, Alec Burks, is making Sixers' General Manager Elton Brand look great as the trade deadline acquisition accounted for 22 points against Orlando.

Friday night's game was far from flawless for Philly, but they are making progress down in the bubble, and patching up some of their glaring issues from the last few games. Not only did Philly take care of the ball on offense, but they also avoided any late-game breakdown on defense, too, as Orlando managed only to score 22 points during the final quarter, allowing the Sixers to pull away in the end and snag a 108-101 win.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_