Rockets Credit Ball Movement for Hot Shooting Night vs. Magic

The Houston Rockets used a hot perimeter shooting night to lead their efforts in a win over the Orlando Magic.

The Houston Rockets (2-9) snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 134-127 win over the Orlando Magic (2-9) on Monday. 

A pivotal factor in the Rockets' success was their perimeter shooting. Houston finished the nigh 24-48 (50.0 percent) from beyond the arc and made more 3s than 2s from the field. What led to such significant results from beyond the arc? Ball movement. The Rockets totaled 31 assists as a unit.

“It was the ball movement that led to the 3-point shooting tonight for us," Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “We're not going to make 24 threes every night, but at least we're creating opportunities for our teammates. I've been talking to them a lot about it and hopefully it's sinking in.”

The Rockets logged a total of 35 spot-up plays against the Magic and produced a staggering 1.486 points per possession in those situations. Meanwhile, the Magic only got up 17 spot-up shot attempts and produced a much lower 0.941 points per possession. 

With the Magic putting up big numbers offensively, the Rockets understood that a hot scoring night would be needed in order to win. There was a consistent output from Houston's offense with three quarters of at least 33 points and only one that ended in a failure to reach the 30-point threshold (by one point in the third quarter).

“That (ball movement) is why we scored a ton of points,” Rockets guard Eric Gordon said, "and we were knocking them down. We took advantage. It was just an offensive night for both teams and it was good that we made the most runs to win. We didn’t have too many droughts when we weren't scoring."

There were no shortage of situations when the Magic defense simply lost tabs of shooting threats on the perimeter throughout a possession. That's where ball movement and staying active off-ball paid dividends for the Rockets.

“They did get hot, obviously,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “There were a lot of open looks with our inability to get to the basketball. But give them credit for knocking shots down.”

The Rockets will need to improve their execution when holding a lead. They took a 100-83 lead in the third quarter after Jalen Green led a 7-0 run. The Magic cut the game down to three during the final period, but ultimately proved unable to take control. 

With the Rockets achieving the victory, both teams are now tied for the NBA's worst record to start the season. 

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