Magic at Rockets
James Harden has emerged from a season-opening slump and attempts to
have his second straight standout game when the Houston Rockets host the
Orlando Magic on Wednesday. Harden shot just 22.2 percent from the
field in Houston's first three games before breaking out with a
season-high 37-point performance in Monday's victory over the Oklahoma
City Thunder.
The Rockets lost each contest in which Harden was struggling and he looked nothing like the sharpshooter who was runner-up to Golden State's Stephen Curry in last season's MVP voting. "I'm sure all great shooters go through droughts, Harden said after the Oklahoma City game. "Mine was pretty terrible, I admit, but it will change. It will all come around. It's a long season and I'll go on five, six, 10-game streaks where I'm just on fire and it will even itself out." Orlando picked up its first victory of the season with Tuesday's 103-94 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Small forward Evan Fournier poured in a career-best 30 points and center Nikola Vucevic had 22 points and a season-high 13 rebounds for his second straight double-double.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Orlando), ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE MAGIC (1-3): Fournier's big game came one night after he and the club failed to reach a contract extension by the midnight deadline - which means he will be a restricted free agent after the season. He went 12-of-20 from the field - including 4-of-9 from 3-point range - against the Pelicans after promising before the game that he was only worried about his play. "My main focus was always just playing good basketball and winning games," Fournier told reporters. "And then, of course, the contract is going to follow. You don't have to think about the contract first and then basketball. You have to think about basketball first, and then everything's going to follow."
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (1-3): Center Dwight Howard is dealing with back soreness but looked solid against Oklahoma City when he had 16 points and eight rebounds in 35 minutes. He missed two of the season's first four games - one absence was due to a suspension stemming from last season's playoffs - and doesn't expect to play both ends of back-to-backs early in the campaign. "As the season goes, I think I'll be able to play those back-to-backs, but I think early in the season it's not smart to do that," Howard told reporters. "People will say: 'Why? You're young.' But I've been in the league for 12 years and I want to be able to walk when I'm done playing basketball."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Houston has won five of the past six meetings.
2. Orlando G Victor Oladipo averaged 30.5 points and 3.5 steals in two games against the Rockets last season.
3. Houston has given up 105 or more points in each of its four games.