HOUSTON (SportRadio 610)- Chris Paul scored 12 points in his first game since December 20 as the Rockets rallied late to the beat the Orlando Magic 103-98 Sunday night at Toyota Center.
Paul played 25 minutes after missing 17 games with a left hamstring strain and shot 4-of-8 from the field while dishing out six assists as the Rockets improve to 29-20 on the season.
James Harden led all scorers with 40 points, including 12 in the a fourth quarter that saw the Rockets down by eight when it started. Houston trailed by as many as 15 in the second half and did not take its first lead until there was 4:13 left in the fourth quarter. Harden's 3-pointer with 1:15 left broke a 95-95 tie, and after Terrence Ross missed from deep on the other end, Harden connected on a 17-footer.
Harden shot 14-of-27 from the field while adding 11 rebounds and six assists.
He scored 15 in the first quarter on 6-of-10 shooting, but the rest of the Rockets combined to shoot 1-of-12 and they trailed 34-18 after 12 minutes. Houston scored the first eight points of the second quarter, and brought the Orlando lead down to four, but the Magic increased the lead to eight at halftime. Harden led all scorers with 26, while Nikola Vucevic scored 17 points with 12 rebounds.
Eric Gordon's 3-pointer started the second half, but Orlando scored the next six to push their lead back to double-digits and would increase it to as many as 15, though the quarter ended where it started, with the Rockets down eight.
Gordon added 16 points, knocking down half of his eight 3-point attempts. Kenneth Faried added 12 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.
Aaron Gordon's 23 points led the Magic, while after his big first half, Vucevic finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds.
Evan Fournier chipped in 18 points, but Orlando falls to 20-30.
Up next for the Rockets will be a matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night at Toyota Center.