Jalen Green (26 points) stayed hot in Orlando as the second-seeded Rockets (45-25) won their eighth straight game and moved to 20 games over .500 for the first time since April 2019.
The Houston Rockets extended their season-long winning streak to eight games and counting in Wednesday’s impressive 116-108 victory (box score) at Orlando.
The Rockets (45-25) remain at No. 2 in the Western Conference standings as they compete for home-court advantage in multiple rounds of the 2025 playoffs, while the Magic (32-38) are at No. 8 in the East and tracking for a play-in tournament berth. Orlando has a winning record at home and is better than its record with both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner healthy, yet Houston made it look easy at the Kia Center and defeated the Magic for a second time in barely over a week.
Individual statistics of note included:
- Jalen Green: 26 points, 7 rebounds, 8-of-18 shooting (44.4%), +19 in 37 minutes
- Alperen Sengun: 22 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 9-of-18 shooting (50.0%)
- Tari Eason: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists; 7-of-10 shooting (70.0%)
- Fred VanVleet: 19 points, 6 rebounds; 8-of-8 on free throws
- Dillon Brooks: 15 points, 3 assists; 5-of-10 shooting (50.0%), 3-of-6 on 3-pointers (50.0%)
- Jabari Smith Jr.: 13 points, 2 steals, 2 blocks in 26 minutes; 4-of-6 shooting (66.7%)
- Steven Adams: 3 points, 6 rebounds, +22 in 23 minutes
- Paolo Banchero (Magic): 31 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists; 10-of-21 shooting (47.6%), 3-of-8 on3 -pointers (37.5%)
- Franz Wagner (Magic): 20 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists; 8-of-19 shooting (42.1%), 2-of-5 on 3-pointers (40.0%)
Houston had a relatively poor night from 3-point range (11-of-35, 31.4%) but made up for it with one of its best nights on free throws, going 29-of-32 (90.6%).
“There were a lot of accolades to go around, but the first thing we all pointed to was 29-for-32 from the line,” head coach Ime Udoka said postgame. “In a tight game, especially late when they’re fouling. Everybody stepped up with confidence and knocked them down. It’s an area we’ve obviously got to improve. We do get to the line quite a bit and get downhill and get fouled, we’ve just got to knock those down, improve, and there wouldn’t be so many close games.”
For the season, Houston ranks No. 5 among 30 NBA teams in free-throw attempts (23.0 per game), but they are dead last in accuracy (74.3%).
Since VanVleet’s return exactly one week ago, Green is averaging 27.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game with a true-shooting percentage of 58.0%. The Rockets are 5-0 in those games and are averaging +16.2 per game in Green’s minutes.
Orlando entered with the NBA’s second-rated defense, which made this particular performance even more impressive for Green and the Rockets.
“I think he’s just much more settled,” Udoka said of Green. “He’s seen everything, at this point. They blitzed him late in the game today, and he handled it much better than he did at times last year.”
“I think, overall, he’s been very consistent this year. Every off game he has, he really bounces back with a good week or two. It shows the growth that he’s having, and obviously he’s going to be crucial for us going forward.”
Amen Thompson (left ankle sprain) remained sidelined by injury, though there is hope that he could return in the coming days.
With Wednesday’s victory, Houston clinched at least a spot in the 2024-25 West play-in tournament, ensuring its first postseason basketball since 2019-20.
Of course, as the No. 2 seed, their likely regular-season result is well beyond the play-in range (seeds No. 7 through No. 10) — as evidenced by them rising to 20 games over .500 for the first time since the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.
March 19 Rockets-Magic Complete Highlights
March 19 Postgame Reaction and Interviews
What’s Next
Houston wraps up a brief two-game road trip in Florida with Friday’s matchup at Miami (29-39). Tipoff of Rockets-Heat is at 7:00 p.m. Central.
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