After leading for most of the game and by 15 points in the third quarter, the Rockets collapsed late against Orlando’s zone defense in a deflating 116-110 loss (box score) on Wednesday at Toyota Center.
Houston (9-22) has dropped four straight home games and two to the Spurs and Magic, teams widely viewed as rebuilding rivals.
The Rockets committed 17 turnovers, including eight in the fourth quarter and five in the final five minutes.
In a battle of top 2022 rookies, Orlando’s Paulo Banchero (23 points, 45% FG, 13 rebounds) largely outplayed Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr. (10 points, 36.4% FG, 5 rebounds) as the Magic (12-21) won for the seventh time in their last eight overall games.
The Rockets were led by Kevin Porter Jr., who scored a game-high 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting (63.2%) and 5-of-9 on 3-pointers (55.6%). However, he had 5 assists compared to a game-high 5 turnovers, and those proved costly late as Houston struggled to counter Orlando’s zone. Jalen Green had 21 points (47.1% FG) and 8 rebounds, but he went scoreless in the fourth quarter and only shot once.
Second-year guard Franz Wagner — like Green, a first-round pick from the 2021 NBA draft — led the Magic with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting (60.0%), including 4-of-8 on 3-pointers (50.0%).
KJ Martin added 18 points and 4 assists off the bench on 7-of-11 shooting (63.6%) and 2-of-4 on 3-pointers (50%), while Alperen Sengun had 13 points (62.5% FG), 12 rebounds and 6 assists at center.
Scroll on for highlights, analysis and postgame interview reaction from Wednesday’s loss to Orlando. Houston concludes its seven-game homestand, the longest of the season, at Toyota Center on Friday versus Dallas with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Central.
Highlights
Analysis and Interviews
Houston continues to turn the ball over at the worst times.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) December 22, 2022
The Rockets have lost their fourth home game in a row. Two of them have come to the Spurs and Magic.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) December 22, 2022
Beating a zone is all about ball movement. You can pass faster than they can move. #Sarge
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) December 22, 2022
Alperen Sengun talked about the Magic zone and also how difficult it is going against a team with that much length in the paint pic.twitter.com/7M8wBM0I9X
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) December 22, 2022
Here is KPJ staying they knew exactly what the Magic were doing with their zone. “We weren’t moving fast enough” pic.twitter.com/vNYJ9t4FaC
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) December 22, 2022
Kevin Porter Jr on Orlando's zone: "It really wasn't anything. It was kind of like a man zone where you get the ball in the middle, they flare out and they man up, so we knew exactly what they were doing, we just weren't moving fast enough."
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) December 22, 2022
Official stats: Rockets had 8 team turnovers in the 4th quarter tonight versus Orlando. Magic scored 13 points off those turnovers.
Rockets were outscored 31-23 in the 4th in the 116-110 loss.
— Kris M Gardner (@TheHRReview) December 22, 2022
Rockets entered this game scoring 1.038 points per possession against zone defense this season, second best in the league, but tonight they scored just 0.69 points per possession against Orlando's zone
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) December 22, 2022
Here's how Stephen Silas said the Rockets wanted to attack Orlando's zone tonight pic.twitter.com/MXm7qIYQH9
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) December 22, 2022
0.69 points per possession. https://t.co/y2RrUjsLgR
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) December 22, 2022
Here is Coach Silas talking about the Orlando zone that caused the Rockets issues in the 2nd half pic.twitter.com/sNINx6DneZ
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) December 22, 2022
I asked Jalen what the team needs to do for him to get more shots in the 4th quarters pic.twitter.com/2eCflpYYws
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) December 22, 2022
