Rockets—Magic: Houston Wins Offensive Struggle

Yes, you read the title correctly. When a game is in the 80's and low 90's, it is not a defensive struggle, it's an offensive struggle, a common misconception among sports analysts.

The Rockets completed the season sweep of the Orlando magic with a 93-83 win at Toyota Center in Houston.

The win was huge moving forward.

While the Rockets have already secured their playoff birth, they needed to pick up a win in order to move closer to securing home court advantage, especially with New Orleans and Dallas still on the schedule.

More so than that, it gives the young team confidence heading into the post-season.  Confidence is what fuels road victories in the playoffs. You can tell this by looking at the difference in shooting percentages for role players at home and on the road.  Role players consistently shoot better at home because they are more comfortable, which turns in to confidence.

The big story of this game for Rockets fans was the triumphant return of Carl Landry from a gun shot wound.

Around three weeks ago, Carl Landry was shot on a downtown Houston street while returning home from a club. There was an accident between Landry and another vehicle containing two Hispanic men. Landry made the mistake of getting out to check the damage, the vehicle doubled back and Landry was shot.

Landry returned to action, played sparingly, and recorded eight points, five rebounds, and two blocked shots. His impact was felt more on the defensive end. He will more than likely not get more than 20-25 minutes per game, as the Rockets have secured a playoff spot.

Yao Ming dominated the battle between he and fellow all star Dwight Howard yet again. Yao finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds, while Dwight only managed 13 points and 10 rebounds—six of them coming in the fourth, with Yao on the bench. 

The "best center in the league" debate generally begins and ends with Yao and Howard. For some reason, that I cannot fathom, Howard is generally the choice between the two. 

While my bias is obviously going to force me to pick Yao every time, it is without difficulty that I can prove why, at this point, Yao is the better center.

While Howard does bring the defense and rebounding, he does not force the constant double team that Yao does, opening the offense for everyone else.

Howard proved that point by being shut down for about four minutes by none other than Dikembe Mutumbo. Dwight tried to go one-on-one with Deke, he was forced to throw up a left handed hook shot, and Orlando preceded to take eight three pointers in the final four or five minutes. 

The Rockets' defense was on display, holding the Magic to 38 percent shooting and 83 points—19 below their season average.

The game was won in the first half, when the Rockets held the Magic to only 16 points in the second quarter, taking a nine point lead into halftime. 

The Magic climbed back within one in the third quarter, only to have the Rockets go on a 12-5 run heading in to the fourth.  

The Magic could not get anything going in the fourth, at one point missing six three-pointers in a row. Behind Ron Artest and Von Wafer, the Rockets closed the door.

The Rockets are a half game behind San Antonio for the division lead, who just lost Manu Ginobli for the year. With a division title looming and home court advantage up for grabs, expect the Rockets to plow head first into the final four games of the season.