Rockets lose to Magic
Despite a very valiant comeback, the Houston Rockets lost to the Orlando Magic 97 to 92 in front of 18,270 fans at Toyota Center.
The Rockets were lifeless and listless through much of the first half; however, they led the Magic 22 to 15 at the end of the first quarter. Neither team shot above 30 percent (Houston 26.1%, 6 for 23; and Orlando, 27.8%, for 18) from the field in the quarter.
Tracy McGrady missed seven of his eight shots in the period.
T-Mac labored up and down the court; but, he continued playing despite the pain in his left knee.
The Rockets scored a few fast break points early in the second quarter to increase the lead to 10 points (37 to 27) with 7:32 left in the first half.
The Rockets missed their next nine points; and, Orlando took advantage of Houston's cold shooting by scoring 15 consecutive points to lead 42 to 37 with 2:31 left in the half.
Orlando led 44 to 40 at halftime.
During halftime, realizing his presence on the court was doing more harm than good to the team, Rockets head coach Rick Adelman and the medical trainers decided to sit McGrady down for the rest of the game.
T-Mac finished the game with just three points on 1 for 10 shooting from the field.
"Doctors, coaches and trainers saw how I was moving out there and decided to shut me down," said McGrady after the game. "Playing on one leg like that when you're putting so much pressure on that leg, the leg that feels good, there is a chance that you can injure that leg. And that basically is why they decided to take me out of the ball game."
Orlando outscored the Rockets 27 to 22 in the third period. Magic center Dwight scored seven points in the quarter; and, point guard Jameer Nelson sliced up the Rockets' porous defense with seven points, too.
The Rockets trailed the Magic 71 to 62 at the end of the third quarter.
Orlando led by as many as 13 points early in the fourth quarter; however, the Rockets trimmed their deficit to six (82 to 76) with 7:06 remaining in the game. The Magic up the lead to 11 again (87 to 76) with 4:01 left on the game clock.
Then, the Rockets woke up; and, Orlando's offense bogged down.
Bonzi Wells started the Rockets' run with a slam dunk. Yao Ming converted a tough three point play to pull the Rockets within five (89 to 84) at the 1:43 mark of the game.
Howard split two free throws; then, Rockets guard Rafer Alston scored a driving lay-up to pull within four points. Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu nailed a tough three-point shot to put the Rockets behind 93 to 86 with just 1:14 remaining. Bonzi Wells hit a long two-point jumper to move the Rockets within five points. Turkoglu missed a driving lay-up which was rebounded by Yao Ming. Yao hit two free throws to make the score 93 to 90 Orlando. Alston hit two free throws for a 93 to 92 score with 12.9 seconds remaining. Dooling swished two free throws to put the Magic ahead 95 to 92.
Time-out Rockets with 12.3 seconds remaining.
The Rockets failed to get off a good shot with a legit chance of tying the score.
Adelman summed up the Rockets pretty well.
"I'm disappointed in the loss but not in the effort our guys gave. If you look at the stat sheet from the first half, we defended them well...we had 17 offensive rebounds and 22 assists. We did the whole thing, but we couldn't make a shot. It seemed like it just went through the whole team. To our guys credit, when we got down in the fourth (quarter), they didn't quit. There's no easy way."
The Rockets were lifeless and listless through much of the first half; however, they led the Magic 22 to 15 at the end of the first quarter. Neither team shot above 30 percent (Houston 26.1%, 6 for 23; and Orlando, 27.8%, for 18) from the field in the quarter.
Tracy McGrady missed seven of his eight shots in the period.
T-Mac labored up and down the court; but, he continued playing despite the pain in his left knee.
The Rockets scored a few fast break points early in the second quarter to increase the lead to 10 points (37 to 27) with 7:32 left in the first half.
The Rockets missed their next nine points; and, Orlando took advantage of Houston's cold shooting by scoring 15 consecutive points to lead 42 to 37 with 2:31 left in the half.
Orlando led 44 to 40 at halftime.
During halftime, realizing his presence on the court was doing more harm than good to the team, Rockets head coach Rick Adelman and the medical trainers decided to sit McGrady down for the rest of the game.
T-Mac finished the game with just three points on 1 for 10 shooting from the field.
"Doctors, coaches and trainers saw how I was moving out there and decided to shut me down," said McGrady after the game. "Playing on one leg like that when you're putting so much pressure on that leg, the leg that feels good, there is a chance that you can injure that leg. And that basically is why they decided to take me out of the ball game."
Orlando outscored the Rockets 27 to 22 in the third period. Magic center Dwight scored seven points in the quarter; and, point guard Jameer Nelson sliced up the Rockets' porous defense with seven points, too.
The Rockets trailed the Magic 71 to 62 at the end of the third quarter.
Orlando led by as many as 13 points early in the fourth quarter; however, the Rockets trimmed their deficit to six (82 to 76) with 7:06 remaining in the game. The Magic up the lead to 11 again (87 to 76) with 4:01 left on the game clock.
Then, the Rockets woke up; and, Orlando's offense bogged down.
Bonzi Wells started the Rockets' run with a slam dunk. Yao Ming converted a tough three point play to pull the Rockets within five (89 to 84) at the 1:43 mark of the game.
Howard split two free throws; then, Rockets guard Rafer Alston scored a driving lay-up to pull within four points. Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu nailed a tough three-point shot to put the Rockets behind 93 to 86 with just 1:14 remaining. Bonzi Wells hit a long two-point jumper to move the Rockets within five points. Turkoglu missed a driving lay-up which was rebounded by Yao Ming. Yao hit two free throws to make the score 93 to 90 Orlando. Alston hit two free throws for a 93 to 92 score with 12.9 seconds remaining. Dooling swished two free throws to put the Magic ahead 95 to 92.
Time-out Rockets with 12.3 seconds remaining.
The Rockets failed to get off a good shot with a legit chance of tying the score.
Adelman summed up the Rockets pretty well.
"I'm disappointed in the loss but not in the effort our guys gave. If you look at the stat sheet from the first half, we defended them well...we had 17 offensive rebounds and 22 assists. We did the whole thing, but we couldn't make a shot. It seemed like it just went through the whole team. To our guys credit, when we got down in the fourth (quarter), they didn't quit. There's no easy way."
posted by Kris Gardner @ 11:29 PM
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