PHILADELPHIA — Held in check all night, Thaddeus Young delivered at the end.

Young's driving layup with 2 seconds left lifted Philadelphia to a 96-94 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night, giving the 76ers a surprising 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Sunday night at the Wachovia Center. The Sixers, who stumbled into the playoffs with six losses in their last seven games and a 41-41 record, are two wins away from their first playoff series victory since Allen Iverson led them to the NBA finals in 2001.

Dwight Howard had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic, who won 59 games during the regular season. Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 29 points, though he missed two free throws in the final minute. Andre Miller added 24 and Young had six.

Orlando, which blew 18-point leads in the first two games, nearly overcame a 17-point deficit in this one.

With the Magic down 94-91, Howard made one of two free throws with 31 seconds left. Following a timeout, Andre Miller missed a driving layup and Rashard Lewis grabbed the rebound with 7.4 seconds left. Howard then was fouled at the other end, and he made both free throws to tie it at 94.

But Young took a pass near the baseline and drove hard to the basket. He nearly lost possession, held onto the ball and dropped in a left-handed shot to send the crowd into a frenzy. Lewis' desperation heave at the end missed and the Magic suddenly found themselves in a tough spot in a series everyone expected them to win.

Instead, it's the Sixers who are finding ways to hit the big shots at the end. Iguodala drained a 22-foot jumper with 2.2 seconds remaining to lift the Sixers to a 100-98 victory in Game 1. Orlando held on for a 96-87 win in Game 2 after its big lead was cut to five points late in the fourth quarter.

The Magic tied it at 86 on a 3-pointer by Lewis midway through the fourth, but didn't score over the next 3½ minutes. Iguodala made a pair of free throws to put the Sixers ahead 88-86, then swished a jumper to make it 92-86 with 2:39 left before Howard ended Orlando's scoring drought with a put-back dunk.

The 76ers kept it close by missing seven of 11 free throws late in the game, including a pair by Iguodala with 41 seconds remaining.

Led by Iguodala, the Sixers started pulling away in the third quarter, only to let the Magic get back in it.

Iguodala nailed a 3-pointer from the corner just before the shot clock expired to start the third. After Miller hit a 3-pointer, Green made a 17-footer and Iguodala made another long jumper with the shot clock winding down. That gave the Sixers their biggest lead, 74-57, midway through the quarter.

But the Magic answered with a 17-2 run. Lewis hit a 3-pointer and Howard followed with a thunderous dunk. Mickael Pietrus drained consecutive 3s to cut it to 76-74.

It wasn't a sellout crowd in Philly, but the fans who came made plenty of noise and gave their Sixers a real home-court advantage against one of the NBA's best road teams. Wearing white giveaway playoff T-shirts, they rocked the building the way they used to in Iverson's glory days.

Courtney Lee, coming off a career-best, 24-point effort in Game 2, didn't score until 3:25 remained in the first half. The rookie finished with six.

Turkoglu, still slowed by a left ankle sprain, had 11 on 2-for-12 shooting. He struggled against Iguodala on the defensive end.