Magic Ground Rockets For Eighth Straight Victory

The Magic won their eighth straight game Friday night after handily defeating the visiting Houston Rockets by a score of 110-95.  After a huge third quarter by the Magic which included 13 points from Ryan Anderson,  a 17-0 run and a Hedo to Dwight TurkOOP, the refs should have just called the game.  The Rockets players hung their heads and weren’t really willing to put up a fight.

"Rick Adelman said it best, “We just fell apart in the third quarter. We struggled offensively, we just gave in at the other end. We gave up 39 points, that’s not going to do it on the road.”"

Actually coach, not only is that not going to do it on the road, but it also isn’t going to do it in Houston… or in Sacramento… or on a high school gym in the middle of Idaho. Your team was overmatched and quite frankly just isn’t nearly as talented.  Don’t fret.

The Magic once again had an extremely balanced scoring attack and were led by Brandon Bass and Jason Richardson who each had 18 points on the night.  Every player who played substantial minutes tonight scored at least 7 points.  It was also the 8th straight game in which the team has had at least 5 players score in double figures. Coincidence?

On a night when Dwight Howard got into early foul trouble, the team fought through it and produced despite not having their leader on the floor.  Bass and Ryan Anderson also both got into early foul trouble which meant that Earl Clark was forced into playing meaningful minutes.  He certainly did not disappoint and showed a flashy, aggressive offensive game and improved defense.  He finished the game with 8 points and 4 rebounds.

More news, notes, nuggets and tidbits from tonight’s game:

• Dwight Howard once again led the Magic in rebounds tonight with 11.  Dwight has been the Magic’s leading rebounder in all but 4 games this year. Two of those games he didn’t play in. Shocker.
• While the defense played very well in the second half, there was a lot of room for improvement in the first half.  The Magic were burnt on several back cuts despite that being a major point of emphasis before the game.  Stan did offer some positivity on this front though saying, “The good part was that we got better defensively as the game went on and we were good in the third quarter and really opened up the lead, so I was happy with that.” A happy Stan means a happy Orlando.
• Former Magic fan favorite, Courtney Lee, didn’t have a warm homecoming in Orlando tonight despite openly pining to return to the City Beautiful.  C-Lee finished the game with 1 point, 6 rebounds and 0 facemasks in 23 minutes.
• I spoke with Daniel Orton before the game to check on his status post arthroscopic knee surgery and he seemed optimistic.  The swelling is still too high to begin his rehab, but he stated that he hopes to start on Monday.
• Stan praised the offense in his post game press conference and specifically the fact of how well they have all picked up on things.  Jameer Nelson added to that post game by saying, “Coach basically put in plays that everyone understands, easy pick and roll plays and we’re starting to add more and more every day.”
• With the Magic scoring 110 points, all Central Florida residents are now eligible to receive 50% off their ONLINE order tomorrow with Papa John’s.  The promotion is good only at PapaJohns.com with the promo code “MAGICWIN”.

Rockets fans shouldn’t worry too much about their teams current state.  I mean, the team’s best player seems to have it all figured out…

"Kevin Martin: “We just have to keep doing our jobs and hopefully it turns around sooner or later”"

While things aren’t looking up for the Rockets, the Magic continue to roll along.  The winning streak will be put to test immediately though with the next five games being on the road against Dallas, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Boston.

Tomorrow night’s game against Dallas is set for an 8:30 EST tip and will be televised locally on FS Florida.

Brian Serra is the Real Brains behind the Howard the Dunk team and the founder of MagicBasketballOnline.com.  You can follow/add him on Twitter and on Facebook.  Compare pricing and find the cheapest tickets for all future Orlando Magic games using TiqIQ technology!