Rockets stifle Magic offense in win
The Magic were able to shoot only 38% from the field, 35.7% from the three point line, and 61.9% from the free throw line, as the Rockets led for most of the game in a 93-83 win.
The Magic's last lead was 11-10 in the first quarter; the Rockets led 25-22 after one and 47-38 at the half. The Magic pulled to within four points in the third, but trailed 67-59 after three. The closest the Magic could get in the fourth was six points with under eight minutes remaining on their way to the ten point loss.
Magic leading scorers
Rashard Lewis: 22 points (8 of 18 field goals), 12 rebounds, 4 assists
Rafer Alston: 15 points (4 of 11 field goals), 6 rebounds
Dwight Howard: 13 points (5 of 11 field goals, 3 of 9 free throws), 10 rebounds, 3 blocks
Hedo Turkoglu: 12 points (4 of 10 field goals), 4 assists
Houston leading scorers
Yao Ming: 20 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks
Ron Artest: 16 points (6 of 21 field goals), 7 assists, 6 rebounds
Von Wafer (bench): 14 points
Overall Game Statistics:
FG%: HOU 43.9% (36 of 82) ORL 38.0% (30 of 79)
3 PT FG%: HOU 46.2% (6 of 13) ORL 10 of 28 (35.7%)
FT%: HOU 65.2% (15 of 23) ORL 61.9% (13 of 21)
REB: HOU 52 (12 offensive) ORL 45 (10 offensive)
AST/TO: HOU 15/8 ORL 14/9
BENCH: HOU 29 ORL 16
Other game notes and stats:
-Mickael Pietrus and Anthony Johnson missed the game for the Magic due to injury
-Howard and Turkoglu combined for just 25 points
-Alston and Courtney Lee (5 points) combined to shoot 6 of 20 from the field
-Tyronn Lue led the Magic reserves with 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting
-Redick (5 points), Gortat (0 points), and Battie (2 points) combined for 7 points off the bench on 3 of 13 shooting
-Lue was the only Magic player to shoot over 50%
-The Magic starting frontline was outrebounded by the Rockets' starting frontline 32-25
-Other than Artest, the rest of the Rockets shot 30 of 61
The Magic (57-20) are now one game behind Boston (58-19) for the second seed with five games left, with Boston holding the tiebreaker advantage.
For the complete box score, click here
The Magic's last lead was 11-10 in the first quarter; the Rockets led 25-22 after one and 47-38 at the half. The Magic pulled to within four points in the third, but trailed 67-59 after three. The closest the Magic could get in the fourth was six points with under eight minutes remaining on their way to the ten point loss.
Magic leading scorers
Rashard Lewis: 22 points (8 of 18 field goals), 12 rebounds, 4 assists
Rafer Alston: 15 points (4 of 11 field goals), 6 rebounds
Dwight Howard: 13 points (5 of 11 field goals, 3 of 9 free throws), 10 rebounds, 3 blocks
Hedo Turkoglu: 12 points (4 of 10 field goals), 4 assists
Houston leading scorers
Yao Ming: 20 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks
Ron Artest: 16 points (6 of 21 field goals), 7 assists, 6 rebounds
Von Wafer (bench): 14 points
Overall Game Statistics:
FG%: HOU 43.9% (36 of 82) ORL 38.0% (30 of 79)
3 PT FG%: HOU 46.2% (6 of 13) ORL 10 of 28 (35.7%)
FT%: HOU 65.2% (15 of 23) ORL 61.9% (13 of 21)
REB: HOU 52 (12 offensive) ORL 45 (10 offensive)
AST/TO: HOU 15/8 ORL 14/9
BENCH: HOU 29 ORL 16
Other game notes and stats:
-Mickael Pietrus and Anthony Johnson missed the game for the Magic due to injury
-Howard and Turkoglu combined for just 25 points
-Alston and Courtney Lee (5 points) combined to shoot 6 of 20 from the field
-Tyronn Lue led the Magic reserves with 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting
-Redick (5 points), Gortat (0 points), and Battie (2 points) combined for 7 points off the bench on 3 of 13 shooting
-Lue was the only Magic player to shoot over 50%
-The Magic starting frontline was outrebounded by the Rockets' starting frontline 32-25
-Other than Artest, the rest of the Rockets shot 30 of 61
The Magic (57-20) are now one game behind Boston (58-19) for the second seed with five games left, with Boston holding the tiebreaker advantage.
For the complete box score, click here
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 2:39 AM
2 Comments:
At 3:06 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
It's really tough seeing D12 outplayed by Yao Ming every time the Magic play the Rockets; I believe Howard is the best center in the NBA, but Yao is so big and makes things really tough for Howard in their matchups; this should be a good learning experience for D12 playing against Yao.
The other guys needed to come through with Howard having a sub-par night; other than Lewis, they did not.
The Rockets bested the Magic in just about every statistical category. I'm disappointed the Magic did not play better, and could not play at a faster pace, considering the importance of the game.
Even if the Magic go 5-0 the rest of the way, the Celtics would have to go 3-2 in order for the Magic to grab the second seed.
Well, anything is possible; we'll see how it all plays out.
At 10:33 AM,
Big Figure said…
Tough night for the guys. Yao is huge and always gives dwight trouble but we were really missing AJ and MP.
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