• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Orlando goes for rare series sweep of Rockets

Jan 4, 2008 - 1:36 PM Houston (15-17) at Orlando (22-12) 7:00 pm EST

ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) - The Orlando Magic will try to complete their first season series sweep of the Houston Rockets since the 2001-02 campaign on Friday.

In their first meeting December 19, Dwight Howard collected 21 points and 11 rebounds to help the Magic hold on for a 97-92 victory at the Toyota Center.

Orlando has dropped its last five home games against the Rockets, who haven't lost here since April 8, 2002. Houston owns an impressive 9-2 record over the Magic since the 2001-02 season.

With Tracy McGrady still nursing an injured knee, teammate Yao Ming is the No. 1 option for Houston.

"Yao is the guy that we have to go to with Tracy out," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "He's got two or three guys that he's going against all the time. If we don't have other people scoring and stepping up, it makes it very difficult on Yao."

Yao is averaging 20.2 points and 11.5 boards through four games without McGrady in the lineup.

Orlando hopes to bounce back after having its four-game winning streak stopped with Wednesday's 96-95 setback to the New Jersey Nets.