Orlando Magic Grades: Houston Rockets 100, Orlando Magic 93

The Orlando Magic’s offense struggled in the second half as they lost another game at home against a red-hot Houston Rocket team, coming off a win last night.

VS.

	1	2	3	4	T
Rockets	19	25	35	21	100
Magic	22	30	23	18	93

The Orlando Magic’s defense has been struggling in recent games, and they had a tough task at hand as they faced the second best offense in the league.

The Magic and the Houston Rockets started off strong as both clubs exchanged leads. But it was the third quarter that Houston used to their strength and rained down seven of their 15 3-point makes in that momentum-drenching third quarter. Former Magic player Ryan Anderson led the way with five 3-pointers in the third quarter.

The Magic tried to scratch and claw back in the game, but they failed to do so as they dropped another game at the Amway Center, 100-93 to the Rockets on Friday. The Magic’s home record dropped to an abysmal 7-13, as they continue to struggle at home.

“We had a tough shooting night on the offensive end,” coach Frank Vogel said. “And once again, like the other night, we’re still a little bit out of sync with our extra pass mentality and with our timing. We said all day, we’re going to have to score to beat this team. We’re going to work on the defensive end, but they’re an offensive machine and we’re going to have to score. And we didn’t score enough.”

The Magic struggled to make plays for their teammates as they totaled just 18 assists for the game. They shot 41.8 percent overall and 8 for 23 from beyond the arc. Hardly enough to top a Rockets tema that 15 of 49 3-pointers.

The Magic had 19 offensive rebounds on the night, a season high. But the Magic were not able to capitalize on the second-chance opportunities as they only made a shot nine out of the 18 times.

James Harden struggled mightily as Aaron Gordon played him very well. Gordon kept his hands far from the ball, moved his feet well and contested every shot Harden attempted. Harden took just six free throw attempts in the game.

The Magic as a whole did a great job limiting the Rockets free throw attempts. Great positioning by the Magic big men limited a lot of fouls, as the Rockets shot a season-low 12 free throws.

Still Houston had enough to win, making timely buckets and going on big 3-point shooting runs to put the game out of reach.

D. Nikola Vucevic was very poor in every aspect of the game. He shot 4 for 15 from the field and only scored nine points off the bench. He was often very lost on defense, as he did not switch on the Houston Rockets pick-and-roll which resulted in Ryan Anderson hitting five 3-pointers in the third quarter.Vucevic also totaled three turnovers, as he often was unable to catch the ball at times, which resulted in Houston fast breaks. Vucevic was unable to create plays for his teammates that he is accustomed to making in the low post, as he had only one assist in the game.The only thing keeping Vucevic from receiving a F is his 12 rebounds. He did well boxing out and gobbling down rebounds, which limited second-chance points for the Rockets. Five of the 12 rebounds Vucevic had were offensive rebounds, which gave the Magic more opportunities to score.. C. Orlando Magic. NIKOLA VUCEVIC

A. Aaron Gordon had arguably the best offensive player in the league that he was assigned to guard in James Harden. He did a great job limiting Harden on the offensive end as he closed out Harden on the catch-and-shoot when he tried to play off the ball. Gordon was great at moving his feet when Harden tried to do an isolation play and create for himself.Harden scored the second-lowest points this season as he shot 5 for 15 from the field and 0 for 8 from the 3-point line.Gordon had a good game offensively also. He totaled 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting. He was the Magic’s most reliable player throughout the game as he answered time and time after the Rockets made a run to break the game open. Gordon added a season-high seven assists as he attacked the rim and created for his teammates. Gordon has shown a lot of promise on the offensive end as of late, as he continues to get accustomed in playing the SF role.. F. Orlando Magic. AARON GORDON

D.J. Augustin was exactly what the Magic needed off the bench, especially with Nikola Vucevic struggling.Augustin came off the bench and scored 19 points in 5-for-9 shooting, including four 3-pointers. Augustin was a huge reason why the Magic had an eight-point lead at the half. Augustin scored 16 points in the second quarter, including three 3-pointers.However, he often was a step slow on defense. Patrick Beverley at one point got past Augustin and dished it to Montrezl Harrell for the layup. Augustin also, at times, held the ball too long and that resulted in the Magic taking 11 of their 91 field goal attempts in the last five seconds of the shot clock.. PG. Orlando Magic. D.J. AUGUSTIN. B+

B-. The Houston Rockets average 114.6 points per game. But they only totaled 100 on the night. Shooting 30 percent from the 3-point line was also not an ideal result for Mike D’Antoni’s squad. The duo of James Harden and Eric Gordon totaled 3 for 24 from the 3-point line combined. The Rockets also allowed the Magic 19 offensive rebounds.The Rockets had a very slow start and were down by 9 early in the first quarter and down by eight at the half. But they started moving the ball around and moved without the ball in the third quarter and that turned the whole game around for the Rockets.The Rockets got 13 of their 26 assists in the third quarter. They played sluggish, which was expected on a second night of a back-to-back after a very nail-biting win last night over the Oklahoma City Thunder. But they executed in the end and made their shots in a killer third quarter to gain control of the game and score the victory.. 29-9. 3rd West. HOUSTON ROCKETS

The Magic are desperately looking to string of wins together, as their playoff hopes are slowly going down the drain.

The Magic embark on a six-game road trip as they face the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.