By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
Sometimes, it's luck that wins basketball games. Tonight, the Sixers proved that once again. The Sixers took on the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center on Thursday night, and came out with an improbable, last second, 112-111 victory.
The Magic led the Sixers for majority of the night, until the fourth quarter when Orlando led Philadelphia by eight with 5:39 to play. The Sixers took the lead with under 40 seconds to play in regulation. After a couple of reviews that went in favor of the Sixers, and then a jump ball with 12 seconds to play between Ersan Ilyasova and Evan Fournier, T.J. McConnell drained a game-winner with five seconds to play to give the Sixers the big victory.
The bucket. The steal. The hair.
🏃🏻 W E O U T 💨 pic.twitter.com/Plb8OToUQA
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) February 10, 2017
It was an unlikely chain of events, but luck played a big factor in this ballgame. The game-winner drained by McConnell was followed by a desperation pass from Orlando that was stolen away from T.J. in the end.
All in all, it was the Sixers' bench that proved to be the difference maker, as Dario Saric led the team with a career-high 24 points. He added eight rebounds and three steals to his total. Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points, but shot just 1-of-8 from the three point mark. His final shot attempt with the clock running out could have cost the Sixers the game, after the ball was blocked out of bounds. It was later ruled a jump-ball in favor of Philly.
T.J. McConnell's game-winning shot wasn't the only contributions the point guard made to his team on Thursday night. McConnell had eight points, eight assists, five rebounds, and three steals to his name. The game-winning shot was his second of the year, after he made the buzzer-beater to beat the Knicks back on January 12.
For the Magic, Evan Fournier led the way with 24 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists. Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 11 rebounds and went 10-of-13 from the field. Serge Ibaka had 16 points, and four blocks. Things got heated between Ibaka and Nerlens Noel late in the fourth quarter, and both players were assessed technical fouls for their actions.
Former Sixers' draft selection, Elfrid Payton had 15 points, three assists, and a steal off the bench for Orlando.
The one-point win gives the Sixers their first win in five games. Philadelphia returns to the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday February 11 at 7:30 p.m. to take on the Miami Heat. The Heat have won their last 12 games.
