The Orlando Magic are on the road again, traveling to Houston for a Tuesday night matchup with the Rockets. The first time the two teams matched up in early January, there was promise shown from the Magic - at least in the first half, with Orlando leading the Rockets by 8 at halftime.
“Well the first half we made every shot for them tough,” said Magic small forward Jeff Green. “I think that’s why - I believe they shot 40-43 in the first half. Second half they got it going and we struggled from there.”
The Rockets did go on to win 100- 93 with a massive third quarter working in their favor. But there were still some positives for the Magic to takeaway especially in regards to defending the 3.
“I didn’t look at the box score today but we held them to 30 percent or something like that or under, said Coach Frank Vogel referencing that January 6th meeting. “And that is all you can ask for. Just want to make them miss and try not to let them get hot. They are going to shoot them anyway, you got to contest them and obviously you have got to clean up the glass.”
Aaron Gordon was on the job when it came to defending James Harden, holding the prolific scorer to just 14 points, 0- 8 3’s and 4- 6 on the free throw line.
“I’m athletic, I’m long, and I’m smart. I know when to and when not to use my hands,” said Gordon when asked what it takes to defend Harden. “It was a good defensive effort on my part but we lost so I’m just looking at going out and helping my team get a win.”