Team still plagued by miscues
deserves all the praise he receives for his 60-point, 10-rebound, 11-assist performance as he led the Houston Rockets over the Orlando Magic 114-107 on Tuesday night. He was superb. No player in NBA history ever scored more points in a triple-double.
That said, the Magic could have — and probably should have — prevented the play that, above all others, shifted the momentum permanently in the Rockets’ favor.
With the score tied 107-107 and 2:18 remaining, a Rockets offensive possession continued toward the end of the shot clock, and played solid one-on-one defense on Harden, forcing Harden to hoist a desperate, tightly contested 3-pointer from 31 feet.
The ball clanged off the rim.
There was just one problem: Once Harden released his shot, Hezonja started to drift upcourt, apparently positioning himself to receive an outlet pass for an easy dunk or layup. Hezonja’s decision left Harden completely free, and Harden’s shot created a long rebounding opportunity. Harden collected the ball and, 24 seconds later, sank a stepback jumper that put Houston ahead 109-107. Magic coach
has said repeatedly that his team must try to “control the things it can control.” That phrase is a cliché that coaches use, but it’s also completely accurate. The Magic have so many problems — including injuries, a lack of star players and a shortage of quality pick-androll defenders — that their margin for error is slim. The Magic cannot afford to give extra opportunities to opponents, especially to a superstar who is enjoying the most dominant game of his career.
“All those things — loose balls in the final few minutes of games — we’ve got to find ways to get those, to win those,” Vogel said Wednesday. “In the games we’ve won, we’ve made those plays.”
Defensive rebounding is one of the Magic’s biggest weaknesses. They entered Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers next to last in the NBA in defensive rebounding percentage, having gathered just 75.3 percent of potential defensive rebounds.
The NBA was transfixed by Harden’s big game, including Lakers coach
who played in the league from 2003 through 2013.
Walton texted Lakers assistant coach
after the Magic-Rockets game ended because Mermuys is close with Harden.
Walton recalled texting, “That would have been a good month during my playing career — that one night.” On Wednesday, missed his second game in a row because of a strained left hip flexor. With Gordon out, Vogel inserted
into the starting five at power forward. Vogel made that move to match up against the Lakers’ pairing of center and power forward
Vogel planned to play Hezonja when Lopez wasn’t on the court. When Lopez was subbed out with 4:46 remaining in the first quarter, Vogel put Hezonja into the game.
The Magic’s lineup of
Speights and
was the 17th different starting lineup Vogel has employed this season.
Lopez scored four of the Lakers’ first 12 points, but the Lakers also made just five of their first 15 shot attempts.
The Magic debuted their new space-themed alternate uniforms on Wednesday.
The Lakers scored 18 of their 25 first-quarter points in the paint.