Houston @ Orlando preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 27, 2019 ) Orlando 98, Houston 103

James Harden will put his high-scoring ways up against one the league's better defensive teams when he leads the Houston Rockets into a Friday night matchup at the Orlando Magic. Harden elevated his NBA-leading scoring average to 38.7 with 55 in a 116-110 victory at Cleveland on Wednesday.

Twenty of his points came in the fourth quarter to help the Rockets overcome a late 11-point deficit after the Cavaliers had scored 24 straight points. "He's incredible," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni told the media. "If it was the first time he's done this, I'd be like, 'Wow! Look at that,' but he's done it at this level for years." The Magic entered Thursday ranked second in the league in scoring defense (102.7) and they held the powerful Los Angeles Lakers roughly 18 points below their average in a 96-87 loss Wednesday night. Jonathan Isaac led the way on the other end with 19 points for Orlando, which fell to 8-5 at home.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), FS Florida (Orlando)

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (16-8): Harden was 20-of-34 from the floor and hit 10-of-18 3-pointers in his fourth 50-point effort of the season, and he also found time to impress on the other end of the floor. "Good defense turned into James Harden offense," D'Antoni added. "I've got nothing but praise for him on the defensive end, in addition to the offensive end. He realized that for us to win big, he's got to do it (play defense) -- and he is doing it. He's always in the right position." Russell Westbrook contributed 23 points and a season high-tying four steals in the victory.

ABOUT THE MAGIC (11-13): Orlando stifled the Lakers and held superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis to a combined 17-of-44 showing from the floor, but the hosts were never quite able to overcome a nine-point first quarter in which they shot 19 percent. "That first quarter is us not understanding who you're playing against or what our team has to do to play well," coach Steve Clifford told reporters. "It took us 10, 11 minutes to get locked into what we had to do, and then we played fine." Evan Fournier had 18 points and Aaron Gordon notched his second straight double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Magic C Nikola Vucevic (ankle) has missed 10 straight games but could return for this one.

2. Rockets C Tyson Chandler (illness) sat out the last three games and G Austin Rivers (illness) the last two.

3. Harden averaged 39 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the teams split two meetings last season.

PREDICTION: Rockets 107, Magic 102