Two nights after having their six-game winning streak snapped in heartbreaking fashion against the Hawks, the Magic lined up against the Rockets in Houston. Despite a slow start they were eventually able to exert their will on the contest, the team digging its way out of a fifteen-point second-half hole with a decisive fourth quarter performance.
Orlando started like a team playing a fourth road game in six nights, with sluggish effort and sloppy execution allowing Houston to build an early lead. Three early three–pointers against a Magic defense that was consistently going under screens proved worrying, as did the Rockets’ transition game that was being prompted by Orlando’s carelessness with the ball in hand.