HOUSTON - The Houston Rockets avoided a major upset by using a 13-2 run in the final 4:41 of play to beat the Orlando Magic, 107-94, on Tuesday night at the Toyota Center.
Despite an inferior 21-48 record, third to last in the entire Eastern Conference, the Magic went toe-to-toe with the superior 45-22 Rockets. Late in the fourth quarter, Orlando trailed only by two, 94-92, following a Victor Oladipo layup.
That's when the Rockets went to work.
Back-to-back 3s by Patrick Beverley and Corey Brewer, plus another Beverly 2-pointer, quickly padded the Rockets' advantage to 102-92 with 2:16 to go. The Magic never got closer from there.
Donatas Motiejunas had 23 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Rockets. Josh Smith, Trevor Ariza and James Harden, who struggled with just 4-for-14 from the field, each finished with 17. Brewer added 13 off the bench while Beverley had 12.
Oladipo scored a game-high 29 points for Orlando while veteran Ben Gordon had 13 off the bench. Nikola Vucevic finished with 11 points and 11 boards but the 7-foot-center missed 12 of his 17 shots and had three turnovers.
Photo: Although James Harden had a very trying night, just 17 points on 4-for-14 shooting, the Rockets still beat the Magic, 104-97, at the Toyota Center on Tuesday night.
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