Summer League: Day 4 Observations

The Orlando Magic rallied to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 77-75 in double overtime.

• There should be some kid of rule about overtime and summer league.
• Justin Harper continues to make the transition from power forward to small forward. He had another rough day Thursday. Harper scored 18 points, but shot just six-of-18 from the field. However, Harper did score the last five points of of the second overtime to send it to a second overtime. Plus, Harper pulled down 10 rebounds. After the game, Harper told me the tying three-pointer he hit really helped his confidence. Harper also told Brian Serra “I knew if I kept shooting, they were going to start falling for me so luckily they fell when we needed it most.”
• Harper also went on to admit he’s had some trouble adapting to the three-spot and the hardest part of the transition is guarding the opposing wings.
• There will definitely be an opportunity for Harper to play at three, especially with Quentin Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu potentially being traded.
• Andrew Nicholson had a tough day trying to score against a pretty big Pistons team, namely Lavoy Allen, who logged minutes in the playoffs last season. Nicholson had six points on three-of-seven shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.
• Kevin Anderson started at point guard because of the departure of Maalik Wayns and did a solid job. Anderson did a nice job of defending Jacob Pullen and for the most part, looked in control throughout the game. Anderson finished with 12 points and nine assists.
• Click here to see what Harper, Nicholson and Price had to say.

Summer league comes to an end Friday. The Magic will take on the Boston Celtics at 10:00 am EST.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN Florida’s Magic Insider (http://ESPNFlorida.com) and is the co-host of the ESPNFlorida.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him onTwitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here)