ORLANDO, Fla. _ For the first several weeks of the season, the Orlando Magic defied expectations and shot superbly from long range.
Those days now seem like a long, long time ago.
The Magic are ensnared in a shooting slump.
Those struggles intensified Wednesday night in a 116-98 loss to the Houston Rockets at Amway Center.
The Magic made only 38.5 percent of their shots from the field, including only six of their 31 attempts from 3-point range.
The defeat also was costly. Jonathon Simmons, one of the Magic's starting wings, sat out the entire second half. Team officials said Simmons was suffering from back spasms.
Injuries have played a role in Orlando's downturn. Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross and Jonathan Isaac missed Wednesday's game, and Vucevic's absence in particular has hampered the team on the offensive end. Before Vucevic fractured a bone in his left hand on Dec. 23, Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon missed stretches with injuries, too.
In their eight games since Dec. 20, the Magic have made only 57 of their 208 attempts from 3-point range, a success rate of 27.4 percent.
In the first quarter Wednesday, the Magic went 5 minutes, 12 seconds between baskets, and their 12 first-quarter points were their lowest point total in any quarter this season.
No one struggled worse than Gordon, who went 1 of 10 from the field during the first half and finished the game with 16 points on 7 of 23 shooting.
Mario Hezonja breathed some life into the Magic during the second quarter, making four consecutive Magic baskets _ a driving layup, a 3-pointer, an 18-foot jumper and a 21-foot jumper _ to cut the deficit from 32-15 to 33-24.
But after that, the Magic never cut their deficit below nine points.
With Orlando trailing by 13 points, Hezonja collected a defensive rebound and threw an outlet pass to try to start a fast break. His overhand throw from the Magic's defensive paint sailed out of bounds and into the Magic's bench area.
Orlando (12-27) just couldn't keep up with Houston (27-9) even though Houston wasn't sharp.
Rockets center Clint Capela scored a game-high 21 points, and Chris Paul added eight points and dished out 13 assists.
The Magic endured a vicious stretch of their schedule from mid-November through mid-December _ a stretch overloaded with road games, often against top teams.
But at the same time, the Magic also have caught a few breaks with their schedule.
They've faced a large number of teams that were without their best players due to injuries. Kawhi Leonard missed the Magic's game against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 27. Mike Conley sat out when the Magic played the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 1. Kristaps Porzingis didn't play for the New York Knicks against the Magic on Nov. 8 or on Dec. 3.
The Magic received another gift Wednesday night as they hosted the Rockets. James Harden, the NBA's leading scorer, averaging 32.3 points per game, could not play because he has a hamstring injury.
"An MVP candidate out of the lineup definitely is better than with him in the lineup," Magic coach Frank Vogel said Tuesday.
"But they still have their style of play and they have one of the best point guards in the world running the show and one of the best 2-guards in the league right now, the way Eric Gordon is playing, executing the same type of system. So they're still going to be coming in here with enough firepower to beat us, for sure."
The Magic have lost 23 of their last 27 games.
If they are to make an unlikely playoff push, they need to start stringing wins together.
Harden's absence should have helped.
It didn't.
