Despite trailing by double digits during the 2nd quarter, the Rockets rallied and head into the locker room down just 3 at halftime. For the Rockets, Luis Scola was outstanding with 15 points to lead them in scoring; Dwight Howard led the Magic with 16 points. In defending Howard, the Rockets mixed it up with some zone and didn’t double him much if at all. The Rockets offense overall looked good shooting 47% but Kevin Martin really struggled shooting 0-6. The offense run under Adelman fit Martin perfectly, it’ll be interesting to see how quickly he can adapt this season. They did however struggle from behind the 3-point line, shooting just 3-14. To the Rockets new addition, Dalembert played limited minutes due to conditioning but was very effective during his time on the court. He scored 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block. The key to the 2nd half, much like last year, will be defense. The Rockets continue to score with ease, but gave up 53% shooting to the Magic in the 1st half; that’ll have to improve for them to steal a victory on the road.
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