PLAYOFF BOUND

Rockets extend streak to eight with victory over Magic

Rockets extend streak to eight with victory over Magic
Rockets defeat the Magic, 116-108. Photo by David Berding/Getty Images.

Jalen Green scored 26 points, Alperen Sengun had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to a season-best eight games, beating the Orlando Magic 116-108 on Wednesday night.

Fred VanVleet added 19 points for the Rockets, who maintained their second-place position in the Western Conference, ahead of — among others — the surging Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 31 points. Franz Wagner added 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Magic, and reserve Goga Bitadze had 19 points and eight rebounds.

Takeaways

Rockets: Their streak included a six-game homestand. This was only their second road win since Jan. 28.

Magic: After nine losses in 13 games and six straight defeats at home, the Magic stand eighth in the East. Banchero has averaged 33 points over the last four games.

Key moment

Green and VanVleet made 3-pointers to open and close a 12-0 run late in the third quarter that left the Rockets with an 80-65 lead.

Key stat

The poorest free-throw shooting team in the NBA, the Rockets made 29 of 32 (90.6%) from the foul line.

Up next

Rockets: At Miami on Friday.

Magic: At Washington on Friday.

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
Yordan Alvarez is still having issues with his hand. Composite Getty Image.

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.

Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team's spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.

He will be shut down until he's evaluated by the specialist.

“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night's series opener at Colorado. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We're just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”

Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.

The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it's uncertain when he'll play.

“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn't want.”

You can watch Brown discuss the setback in the video below.

Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome