Rockets 118, Magic 110
ORLANDO, Fla. -- James Harden had 24 points and Chandler Parsons and Carlos Delfino added 21 each as the Houston Rockets ended a two-game losing streak, outlasting the Orlando Magic 118-110.
Donatas Motiejunas added 17 points and backup point guard Patrick Beverley contributed 13 points and six assists for Houston, which is trying to hold on to a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Tobias Harris, acquired at the trade deadline from the Milwaukee Bucks, led the Magic with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Arron Affalo added 19 points and Nik Vucevic had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando.
The Magic led 100-98 after a Vucevic dunk with 5:11 left in the game, but went scoreless the next three minutes. Orlando committed nine turnovers in the fourth quarter, opening the door for a Rockets rally.
Beverley started it with a 3-pointer, then Harden contributed six points and one assist on the next four possessions and the Rockets ran off to a 109-100 lead.
Houston, which held only one opponent under 100 points in February, didn't seem inclined to change things in March. The Rockets gave the Magic space inside and outside all night and that is the only reason the game was close.
The Rockets shot 55.9 percent for the first three periods of the game, including 12 of 25 from 3-point territory ... and still trailed to a team that has won four times in the last 11 weeks. The margin was only one point -- Orlando led 87-86 -- but even a little defensive pressure and Houston could have been comfortably in front.
As has been their recent custom, the Rockets jumped off to a quick lead, but couldn't hold it. Houston hit its first five 3-point attempts of the game, including two each by Lin and Parsons in jumping out to a 17-6 advantage three minutes into the game.
However, Orlando caught and passed the visitors by the end of the quarter as Nicholson and Harris consistently found opening in the lane. The two were a combined 6-for-9 from the field as Orlando shot 57.1 percent for the quarter and led 32-31.
The Rockets had 11 3-pointers by halftime, but the Magic still had Nicholson and Harris (13 points each) banging away inside and Houston was only able to get a 64-61 halftime lead.
Notes: Magic PG Jameer Nelson missed his fifth straight game with a leg injury. ... The Magic and Rockets have undergone more turnover than any two teams in the NBA this season. Nelson is the only active player on the Magic team that was with it at this point last season and Parsons and seldom-used Greg Smith are the only Rockets still with their team. "If that was ideal, you'd have 30 teams doing it," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. ... Lin has played a regular season game against all 30 teams in the NBA. The Magic has seen Lin in the preseason, but never in the regular season before Friday night. ... Houston blew 17-point leads in its two previous games, losing to the Bucks and Washington Wizards. ... Harris, the second-year player obtained from Milwaukee in the J.J. Redick trade, averaged 17.7 points and shot 67.7 percent (21 of 31) in his first three games for the Magic.
