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Magic, Rockets meet in Houston Tuesday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 2/7/2017  at  12:33:00 PM
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ORLANDO MAGIC (20-33)

at HOUSTON ROCKETS (37-17)

Tip-off: Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -11.5, Total: 223.0

The Rockets will be looking to win their second straight game when they host the Magic on Tuesday.

The Magic are really struggling right now, as they have now lost 15 of their past 20 games and have only shot 50.0% or better from the floor in two of those contests. Orlando desperately needs to find a way to clean things up on the offensive end, but it’s not like things have been much better defensively either. The Magic are allowing 107.0 points per 100 possessions, which places them 22nd in the league in defensive efficiency. If the Magic are not locked in on Tuesday night then they will get blown out in Houston, as the Rockets are scoring 111.2 points per 100 possessions (3rd in NBA). Houston has won two of its past three games coming into this one, but the Rockets have covered in only one of their last seven games. They were a covering machine early in the season, but they have lost their way a bit. Look for them to come out and try to make a statement against a Magic team that they beat 100-93 as five-point favorites in Orlando on Jan. 6. One trend that does favor Orlando in this game is the fact that the team is 14-4 ATS as a road underdog of 9.5 to 12 points over the past three seasons. The Rockets, meanwhile, are an impressive 18-7 ATS on Tuesday nights over the past three seasons. They’re also 16-7 ATS after a game where they failed to cover this season.

The Magic are not playing their best basketball right now, but they are still just 4.5 games back from the eight seed in the Eastern Conference. A nice winning streak would have them right in contention for a playoff spot, and they do seem to be facing the Rockets at the right time. If the Magic are going to win on Tuesday then they will, however, need PG Elfrid Payton (12.5 PPG, 5.8 APG, 3.9 RPG, 1.2 SPG) to play at a high level. Payton had just two assists in 25 minutes the last time he faced Houston, and he had no assists against the Hawks in Orlando’s most recent game. That simply cannot happen on Tuesday, as the Magic need him to set his teammates up in this one. Orlando also needs Payton to be better from three, where he is just 2-for-15 over the past five games. When he is shooting that poorly, the team’s offensive spacing really suffers. One guy that played very well against the Rockets in the last meeting was SF Aaron Gordon (11.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG). Gordon had 18 points, seven assists, six rebounds and a steal in that loss for Orlando. He was 7-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-6 from three in that one, and head coach Frank Vogel would certainly welcome that type of game this time around. The x-factor in this game will, however, be PF Serge Ibaka (14.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.6 BPG). Ibaka had just five points in a blowout loss to the Hawks last game, and it’s important that he finds a way to hit the 20-point mark in this one.

The Rockets are looking to earn an easy win on Tuesday and SG James Harden (28.9 PPG, 11.4 APG, 8.2 RPG, 1.5 SPG) will be going for his third straight game with 40 or more points. Harden had 41 against the Hawks on Thursday and followed it up with 42 against the Bulls on Friday. He should have no trouble reaching that mark against a miserable Orlando defense on Tuesday. Harden did, however, have just 14 points the last time these teams met, but that was a rare off night for the Rockets superstar. He should be a bit better from the outside, and he’ll also attack the rim as often as possible. Houston could also use some big performances from both SG Eric Gordon (17.3 PPG) and PF Ryan Anderson (13.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG) on Tuesday. The two of them combined to score 36 points the last time the Rockets faced the Magic, but Gordon was 3-for-16 from three in that game. The Rockets need him to find his stroke in this one, as he is shooting just 29.7% from the outside over the past four games. Gordon did, however, shoot 5-for-10 from three in the win over Chicago on Friday, so perhaps he is due for a hot streak.


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