{"id":628598,"date":"2026-02-27T17:07:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/628598\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T17:07:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:07:25","slug":"orlando-magic-surrender-another-double-digit-to-lead-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/628598\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic surrender another double-digit to lead Rockets"},"content":{"rendered":"

By halftime of Thursday\u2019s matchup between Orlando<\/a> and Houston<\/a> inside Kia Center<\/a>, the Magic<\/a> had the Rockets<\/a> right where they wanted them.<\/p>\n

Jamahl Mosley<\/a>\u2018s squad led by 10 points at the break, had scored 14 points off 10 Houston turnovers and limited the Rockets to just 1-for-11 shooting from 3-point range.<\/p>\n

That momentum \u2014 built largely behind the Magic taking care of the ball themselves with only five first-half turnovers for just four Houston points \u2014 even continued into much of the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Desmond Bane<\/a>, who hit his first five triples of the night, was beginning to attack the rim with success. Tristan da Silva<\/a> had gotten in on the offensive action with a pair of 3-pointers after a quiet first half. Paolo Banchero<\/a>\u2018s fastbreak dunk increased Orlando\u2019s lead to 19 points with 5:04 left in the third frame.<\/p>\n

Then disaster struck.<\/p>\n

From the 4:56 mark of the third quarter to the 1:33 mark of the frame, the Rockets went from down 19 points to up two points, thanks to a 21-0 run that flipped the script in their favor.<\/p>\n

In what\u2019s become a reoccurring issue for the Magic, they surrendered yet another double-digit lead and ultimately fell at home 113-108.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we just got sloppy in the third,\u201d Banchero said in the locker room after the five-point loss. \u201cThat was just tough. You can\u2019t give up runs like that. I don\u2019t even know if we scored in that last three minutes (of the quarter).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to get better playing with leads,\u201d he added. \u201cI think it\u2019s something that\u2019s been kind of killing us really all the years. Like, we get up, especially against good teams, we get up double digits, and we just get like super lackadaisical on both sides, waste possessions that leads to threes and buckets, and when teams are storming back like that, every basket feels like five points. So, that was a tough collapse as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Banchero\u2019s point, Thursday\u2019s loss to Houston was Orlando\u2019s 10th game of the season in which it led by 10 or more points and didn\u2019t win. Last season, the Magic had 13 such instances, and the year before that six.<\/p>\n

In a matter of minutes, the Rockets changed the outcome by forcing Magic turnovers, scoring off of them and suddenly connecting from distance.<\/p>\n

Jalen Suggs<\/a>, who made his return from injury after missing the last three games due to a back injury, was responsible for three of Orlando\u2019s five turnovers that led to 13 Houston points in the third frame. And Houston\u2019s Reed Sheppard, who didn\u2019t even attempt a single 3-pointer in the first half, shot 3-for-4 from beyond the arc in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

And although the game itself was tied with under five minutes to play \u2014 and Orlando even led by one with 3:23 remaining in the fourth \u2014 the damage had already been done.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe (saw) that it was going south and everybody just came in and locked in,\u201d said Rockets forward Kevin Durant<\/a>, who scored 40 points on the second night of a back-to-back. \u201cI fed off of everybody else\u2019s energy, to be honest, because I was in the game when we were down big.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce coach made a couple subs and adjustments on the defensive side of the ball, that inspired me to want to go out there and play even harder,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is a group effort every night.\u201d<\/p>\n

A similar group effort that put the Magic ahead by double digits earlier was something Orlando lacked as the Rockets stormed back.<\/p>\n

After the Magic shot 8-for-17 (47.1%) from 3-point range in the first half, they shot 2-for-7 (28.6%) in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

In addition, Orlando only got two second-chance opportunities to score in the third frame after it notched 18 second-chance points on nine chances in the first half.<\/p>\n

And as the Magic struggled, Houston thrived. It shot 4-for-9 (44.4%) from distance in the third quarter and scored seven second-chance points in the frame after recording zero in the opening half.<\/p>\n

So, how can Orlando avoid that from happening again in the future?<\/p>\n

\u201cAttacking what\u2019s working,\u201d recently acquired Magic guard Jevon Carter<\/a> said. \u201cAs easy as it sounds, just staying with it. I feel like once we get leads, we get a little selfish.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we get those leads, we\u2019ve just got to keep attacking what\u2019s working instead of worrying about if we\u2019re having a good night, bad night, \u2018Let me get my stats,\u2019 you know? Just sticking together,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Banchero shared a similar sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be difficult, really,\u201d he said about playing with a lead. \u201cOnce you\u2019re up, especially against, as I said good teams, that\u2019s when you\u2019ve got to harp on the basics. \u2026 You have to really emphasize that once you are up.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause that\u2019s what got us up,\u201d he added. \u201c(It) was playing defense, moving the ball and getting good shots. Once you get up, it\u2019s like, you can\u2019t get comfortable. You can\u2019t stay just being willy-nilly. You\u2019ve got get out and be even more sharp and put them away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loss, however, combined with a 76ers win over the Heat, moved Orlando (31-27) back from half-a-game to 1 1\/2 games behind No. 6 Philadelphia (33-26) and just a game in front of No. 8 Miami (31-29) in the East.<\/p>\n

But confidence remains steady in the Magic locker room as the team shifts its focus to the top-seeded Pistons<\/a> on Sunday. Detroit<\/a> was 8-2 in its past 10 games, entering Friday\u2019s matchup with No. 4 Cleveland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re better than that,\u201d veteran forward Jonathan Isaac<\/a> told the Orlando Sentinel<\/a> after Houston completed its comeback.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the team that went up 19, not the team that gave it away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic vs. Pistons<\/p>\n

When: 6 p.m., Sunday, Kia Center<\/p>\n

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By halftime of Thursday\u2019s matchup between Orlando and Houston inside Kia Center, the Magic had the Rockets right…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3794],"tags":[7,292,194,4066,165,6,76,211,1412,80939,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-628598","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-rockets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-rockets","11":"tag-houstonrockets","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-orlando-magic","15":"tag-rockets","16":"tag-social","17":"tag-social-sports","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116143695188937068","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}