HOUSTON -- All of the ball movement and floor spacing that proved so elusive during the Rockets' first-week struggles was there in abundance during the first half on Wednesday night, but then the second half came and the offense grew stagnant, forcing a turn elsewhere for a solution.

Center Dwight Howard recorded a double-double without missing a shot and stabilized the interior defense late as the Houston Rockets fended off the Orlando Magic 119-114 in overtime at Toyota Center. Rockets guard James Harden struggled again with his shooting (6-for-22, including 2-for-11 on 3-pointers) and ball-handling (seven turnovers) but added 28 points and seven rebounds in 43 minutes. Forwards Trevor Ariza and Marcus Thornton scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, while combining to make 6 of 12 3-pointers as Houston overcame 20 turnovers and Orlando recording 58 points in the paint.

Howard tied the entire effort together, grabbing 14 rebounds while scoring 23 points on 10-of-10 shooting. He patrolled the paint and filled gaps on the perimeter, extending himself on both ends working his way back into shape after missing most of the preseason with back woes.

"I was exhausted but that's good," Howard said. "We've got to play until we're exhausted and trust the other guys when they come in to play the same way. That's the only way we're going to get better. Go out there and push ourselves to the limit each and every night and good things will happen."

Magic forward Evan Fournier scored a game-high 29 points while forward Aaron Gordon added 19 points and eight rebounds off the bench for Orlando (1-4). Guard Victor Oladipo tallied 18 points.

When Howard converted an alley-oop dunk with 9:46 to play, the Rockets led 97-91. Orlando erased that deficit with haste, and neither team led by more than one possession for the remainder of regulation. Fournier hit two free throws with 1.1 seconds left to send the game into overtime at 110-110 after Harden and forward Corey Brewer combined to miss three free throws for the Rockets (2-4) inside the final minute.

"We found a way to win," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "It wasn't pretty. We outrebounded them (48-38). We stayed small all night. We had 16 offensive rebounds and the guys scraped."

It seemed impossible that Orlando could maintain its torrid start, an opening burst that included the Magic taking a 30-23 lead by making 14 of 16 field goals, including all four from behind the arc. But when the Magic missed 6 of 7 shots down the stretch of the first, Houston rallied.

The Rockets closed the period on a 9-1 run and, by the midpoint of the second, Orlando had just four field goals in that period and trailed 49-46 when Harden buried a 3-pointer with 6:21 left in the half. Houston had 17 assists at the break and led 68-59, but Orlando was undaunted.

"Offense was good all night until the overtime," Magic coach Scott Skiles said.

The downturn in shooting prowess did not negatively impact the Magic. And after Howard departed with his fourth foul at the 10:52 mark of the third quarter, Orlando attacked the paint with impunity.

Houston forged an 80-70 lead on an Ariza 3 with 5:35 left in the period, but Fournier led a quick 11-1 blitz that lifted Orlando back into contention. With the deficit erased, the Magic carried that spirit into the fourth quarter, where momentum swung wildly, with the score tied four times and the lead changing hands eight times.

"We should have won the game," Fournier said. "I think we were up three with (3:58) to go and that's exactly what I'm talking about when I say we have to get mentally stronger and have to close a game out like that."

NOTES: Magic C Nikola Vucevic departed in the third quarter with a sprained right knee and did not return. ... The Magic played the second game of their lone four-games-in-five-nights stretch this season, having defeated New Orleans for their first victory this season on Tuesday night. Orlando will host Toronto on Friday night before traveling to Philadelphia on Saturday. "The more you talk about it the more difficult it is," Magic coach Scott Skiles said. ... Skiles described the win over the Pelicans as the team's best example of spacing, with Orlando shooting a season-high 46.7 percent while assisting on 57.1 percent of its 42 field goals. ... Rockets F Terrence Jones had a couple stitches removed from his lacerated right eyelid and remains unavailable for the foreseeable future. ... Rockets coach Kevin McHale remains undecided on which end of the back-to-back (at Sacramento on Friday, at the Clippers on Saturday) C Dwight Howard will play, with that decision likely to be made sometime Thursday.