For the first time since November 16th, Orlando Magic point guard Jameer Nelson was in the starting lineup Wednesday night to put up a solid 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists that helped offset Rocket leading scorer Aaron Brook's 17 points. The Magic went up 34-22 to start the game, but the 3rd quarter found Orlando only ahead 61-60 before Orlando put the game away going on a 15-0 run from the 8:04 mark of that third period to the 2:23 mark where Jameer put up eight of his points that he culminated with a slippery turnaround jumper.

Vince Carter was O-Town's leading man with 18 points. Dwight Howard had a smooth 13 points, 20 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Rashard Lewis put up 15 points of his own, including his patented cold-blooded dagger with 2:28 left in the contest to make the game 96-84. Ryan Anderson poured in a much needed 14 points and 9 rebounds. Coach Stan Van Gundy's Magic men improved to 22-7 going into their Christmas day showdown with the Boston Celtics at Amway Arena.

Rick Adelman's Rockets are now 17-12 as they watched their 3-game win streak get snapped. Carl Landry was the game-high scorer with 20 points. Only other support came from Luis Scola (14 points) and Kyle Lowry (13 points). Former UCF Knight Jermaine Taylor found himself getting abused by J.J. Redick early in the fourth quarter. Taylor finished with 2 points in 11 minutes as he was taking over for Chase Budinger who was out  with a sprained ankle. Tracy McGrady made his first return on the season to Orlando as he was once again greeted with boo birds from the Amway faithful. 'T-Mac' played 8 minutes and only managed 2 points on his cousin Vince. The Rockets are off until Saturday when they head to New Jersey to take on a 2-win Nets team.