Houston Rockets vs Orlando Magic: Match Preview and Predictions - 13th December 2019
Match details
Fixture: Houston Rockets vs Orlando Magic
Date & Time: Friday, December 13th, 2019 (7:00 PM ET)
Venue: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
Last game results
Houston Rockets (16-8): 116-110 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers (Wednesday, December 11th, 2019)
Orlando Magic (11-13): 87-96 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers (Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
Houston Rockets Preview:
The Houston Rockets find themselves in 4th place in the NBA’s Western Conference with a record of 16-8. Wednesday night, the Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 116-110. The Rockets were led by another outstanding performance from James Harden. Harden scored 55 points and had 8 assists in the game.
It was necessary because the Cavaliers were shooting over 50 percent for the game and outdueled the Rockets in the paint 54-48. Harden was efficient shooting 10/18 from long distance and 20/34 from the field overall
Key Player-James Harden
James Harden is the best player the Houston Rockets have and almost every game he is MVP worthy. On Wednesday, he dropped 55 points on the Cleveland Cavaliers. For the season, Harden is averaging 38.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. Harden does have a positive impact at both ends of the floor as his near six rebounds a game are high for a guard and he does average two steals per game as well.
Rockets predicted lineup
James Harden, Russell Westbrook, P.J. Tucker, Clint Capela, Danuel House.
Orlando Magic Preview
The Orlando Magic (8th in the East) are in nearly an identical spot to last year when they were the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. A quarter of the way through this season, the Magic own an 11-13 record. Wednesday night, they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 96-87. The Magic held the Lakers to 42.5 percent shooting but allowed the Lakers to shoot 38 percent from the three-point arc, and grab 12 offensive boards. The Magic were led by 19 points from Jonathan Isaac and got a double-double from Aaron Gordon with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Key Player – Aaron Gordon
Aaron Gordon is one of the more dynamic players on the Magic's roster. Blessed with great athleticism, he will need to be aggressive in scoring for the Magic to stay in the playoff picture till they get some healthy bodies back like Nikola Vucevic. This season, Gordon is averaging 13.7 points and 7.1 rebounds a game for the Magic.
Magic predicted lineup
Evan Fournier, D.J. Augustin, Jonathan Isaac, Khem Birch, Aaron Gordon.
Rockets vs Magic Match Prediction
The Houston Rockets’ head coach, Mike D’Antoni, is overworking his starters and underutilizing his bench. Wednesday night, he found just 64 minutes for four substitutes with 33 minutes going to Ben McLemore. Its been a season-long theme and could lead to injuries at the wrong time.
James Harden has scored 116 points in his last three games and is averaging 38 points a game. With the addition of Russell Westbrook to the Rockets, Harden’s game has got even more potent.
Terence Ross for the second consecutive season provides the Magic with a reliable option off of their bench. He is averaging 13 points in 24.6 minutes a game.
While the Houston Rockets are 7-5 on the road this year, the Orlando Magic are 8-5 at home and are 4-4 against teams in the Western Conference.
James Harden is smoking hot right now so it's likely the Houston Rockets will win this visit to the Amway Center in Orlando against the Magic.
Rockets vs Magic Where to watch?
You can stream the game live online with NBA League Pass. The game can be watched on tv on Fox Sports-Florida and AT&T Sportsnet South West.