Geezers aren't built for the grind. The regular-season grind. Too many games. Too many back-to-backs. Too many planes, aches and strains.

Geezers are built for moments. They're weapons of selected destruction, unleashed only at times of dire need. Like the playoffs. Like when you're down so big even your relatives are starting to reach for the remote.

At 35, Donyell Marshall (left) is a geezer, in NBA years. The man's played 15 seasons, 999 games, including playoffs. He's one of the few remaining players who defended Michael Jordan, the pre-Wizards MJ. There are many miles in those knees, which is why Marshall, now the with Philadelphia 76ers, played in only 25 games this season.

But on Sunday the 76ers were desperate - down by 18 points to the young and feisty Orlando Magic with just nine minutes, 16 seconds remaining in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series in Orlando.

Enter the geezer. Marshall went MJ on the Magic. He grabbed a couple of boards then unleashed an arsenal: 11 points, including the treys, the latter of which tied the game at98-all with 34.8 seconds left to play.

At one point, during a timeout in the flurry, Magic coach Stan van Gundy, never one to miss an opportunity to ignite his emotions, turned to his players and asked: "Do any one of you guys know who Donyell Marshall is?"

Yeah, most people think geezers are retired. Or, in case of the young Magic, perhaps never knew they even existed. Then they just show up and remind you of some highlight reel you haven't seen in years.

By the final buzzer, after a 100-98 76er stunner, the Magic knew Donyell Marshall.

They also knew that young and feisty won't do it in the playoffs. Been there rules. The Sixers, a forgotten, underachieving team during the regular season, defeated Detroit in the Game 1 of their playoff series last season, then lost. So though still a young team, they know young and feisty only gets you so far now.

Like up by 18. But even at that juncture on Sunday, Van Gundy knew his team was vulnerable. How they got there wasn't quite right. Assignments were missed. Communication was lax. And then ... 

"We relaxed when we were up by 18," point guard Anthony Johnson said. "You are 16 wins from holding that trophy. You got all summer to relax."

"You think you have the game won," Rafer Alston told Orlando Sentinel columnist David Whitley. "And the other team continues to play hard."

Lessons come hard and fast in the playoffs, so do introductions.

The Magic have met reality and Donyell Marshall, geezer. Welcome to the playoffs.

Photo courtesy Philadelphia Inquirer