The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Houston Rockets 88-115. They also was nearly outscored by one player for an entire quarter. This wasn't a very fun game to watch. It became painful during the second quarter. They were down by 29 points at one point, and that seemed too close.
James Harden decimated the Sixers in the first quarter as he didn't miss from the field or at the free throw line. No, really, he scored 23 points in the first quarter and the Sixers as a team scored 26 points. Sixers ended the quarter down 12 points but at least they were beating Harden by 3. Seems like a wash.
And that was the fun part.
TJ McConnell had a real chance to make things somewhat interesting at the end of the first quarter. He nailed a half court shot at the buzzer. Problem was, (and this writer noticed), the clock didn't start once the ball became live. So, initially, he was awarded three points. But, after the commercial break, it was shown the points were gone and, indeed, it was because the clock didn't start in time.
In fact, in the second half of the first quarter, there were some clock issues. Houston has a…a problem. From the first quarter, you knew there was something wrong and the Sixers would be in for a long night.
Harden was on the bench as the second quarter went on and the Sixers couldn't make a dent in the deficit. When he came on the court, he missed shot after shot, but the other Rockets kept things alive for the Rockets. The Sixers spent the second quarter on a yo-yo. They would be down by 18-21 points and then come back to about 11-14 points before dropping back again. The Harden explosion in the first quarter was something they couldn't overcome.
They ended the half down 13. Really, the teams went back and forth.
Jahlil Okafor struggled. Just struggled. He had 4 points and shot 18 percent from the floor. Just impressive, really. His defense left much to be desired. Robert Covington fouled his way out of any chance to play. Honestly, the team looked tired at times. There was something missing. The second half doesn't need mentioning because it was the same as the first half.
If you're big on plus-minus, then you'll love this: Only Joel Embiid had a positive at 3. That's fantastic.
Embiid finished with his second double double of his career with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Harden finished with 33 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds. Hey, at least it's not 50 points, right?
It's probably important to point out some positives from this game. Here it goes:
- Sixers shot very well from the free throw line, making 88.2 percent of their shots.
- The Sixers are known as the Brixers when they shoot worse than 30 percent during a game. They did not shoot that poorly. This was more of a defensive issue, which was expected. Still, Sixers didn't earn that horrible nickname this time.
- They only had 12 turnovers, compared to Rockets' 18. Nice to see they were taking care of the ball.
Next game for Sixers is Wednesday at home against the Wizards.
