The Houston Rockets proved to be better in a battle of two of the NBA’s worst teams Sunday night, defeating the Orlando Magic 114-110 at Amway Center.
For the second straight game, the Magic went into a third-quarter lull and the opponent took advantage. Orlando held a 59-53 lead at halftime, but things quickly turned to the Rockets’ advantage.
Houston scored 12 unanswered points at the beginning of the third quarter and eventually bolted to an 80-70 lead. The Magic came within two points inside the final 20 seconds, but that was as close as they’d come.
During the first half, Orlando fired away from distance, hitting 8-of-19 3-pointers and shooting 48% overall. But the Magic showed a lack of intensity on both ends of the floor in the third quarter, especially on defense.
“For the second game in a row, we played, actually, a good solid first half,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “Our intensity dropped and the other team, they came out much tougher. Just like Toronto did [Friday].”
Dwayne Bacon, who has played in every Magic game this season, tried to will his teammates to victory but his 22 points were not enough.
“We just didn’t play defense the whole third quarter. They came out and scored 32 points and we ended up like down 10,” Bacon said. “We played great for three quarters, but the object of every game is to come out and play 48 minutes and we didn’t do that in the third quarter.”
Bacon showed his typical resilience and put the Magic on his shoulders, though five other Magic players also scored in double figures.
“I was just trying to do what I could … I know I can put the ball in the basket and it will come when it comes,” Bacon said. “I try to be a total team player. We’ve got young guys who are still learning and I try to help those guys, but at the end of the day, the object is to compete.”
Late in the game, the Rockets looked to be in trouble shortly after grabbing their biggest lead.
Houston’s Kevin Porter Jr. wreaked havoc against the Magic, scoring 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting overall. He picked up his fifth foul with five minutes left in the third quarter and Houston had to look elsewhere for offensive production.
No problem for Christian Wood. He already had pulled down nine rebounds in the first half, but then he took over on offense, scoring a game-high 25 points, including hitting three 3-pointers. Center Kelly Olynyk added 24 points as Houston had three players score more than 20 points.
Porter Jr. eventually fouled out with seven minutes remaining and the Rockets leading 98-91.
Orlando tried chipping away at the lead. The Magic got as close as 110-108 with 30 seconds left, but the Rockets kept them at bay from there.
The loss pulls Orlando closer to the bottom of the standings with the fourth-worst record of 18-39. Detroit is 17-40 while Houston is 15-42 and Minnesota is 15-43 after getting thumped by the host L.A. Clippers late on Sunday.
The Magic next go on the road to face the Atlanta Hawks at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
