Sixers Host Star-Studded Rockets

By Sean Kennedy

Houston GM Daryl Morey saw his master plan come to fruition this past offseason. For years, Morey collected assets and was highly regarded within the basketball community for typically getting the better of a deal. Still, a few years went by and with no marquee player on the roster, there were grumbles that his approach didn’t work in today’s NBA. But then, with all those assets on hand, Morey was able to swoop in and grab James Harden from a cheap ownership group in Oklahoma City and all of those grumbles turned to reverent cheers. Now, Morey has again made the moves to create enough cap space and sign the premier big man he craved in Dwight Howard, to pair with Harden and hopefully form a title contender. The question as the season goes on will be whether this is the right combination of guys to make an impact in the playoffs. Houston enters play fresh off a 110-104 double OT win over Toronto Monday night. The Rockets sit at 5-3 on the year with all three losses coming to Los Angeles teams, having lost twice to the Clippers and once to the Lakers.

Houston is far and away the league leader in getting to the free throw line, not surprising with James Harden (great at drawing fouls and Dwight Howard (often intentionally fouled because he’s worse at free throws than I am at coming up with humorous comparisons) on the roster. The Sixers are fouling the least in the league so it will be interesting to see which side of that equation gives; my money is on the Sixers using plenty of their alotted fouls on Howard down low. With Sam Hinkie coming over from Houston, the Sixers are well-acquainted with the philosophy of taking the ball to the rim, and the Rockets currently lead the league at shots attempted within 5 feet. However, they’ve also been poor at taking care of the ball, ranking third worst in the league in turnover rate, and don’t force any takeaways themselves, with the second-worst forced turnover rate in the NBA. If there’s one area the Sixers can focus on to have a chance in this contest, it would be creating chaos on the defensive end to lead to easy run-outs.

It hasn’t been all punch and pie for Harden to start the season as he fights through minor foot, wrist, and back injuries; although, he’s averaging 24.9 ppg and 5.1 apg, he’s also turning the ball over 4.5 times per game and shooting just 27.6% from three. Similarly, it’s been a mixed bag for Dwight Howard in his arrival to Houston; while he’s putting up numbers of 17.6 ppg and 14.9 rbg, he’s also shooting just 47.1% from the foul line, which cost them the game in their high-profile battle against the Lakers. Jeremy Lin has thrived coming off the bench, averaging 16.1 ppg and 4.0 apg; he’s great at leading the bench unit for the short portions of the game when Harden sits because Linsanity works best with the ball in his hands. Overall, the rockets are still tinkering with their rotations, as they start Omer Asik and Howard together but usually try to have Omri Casspi or Terrence Jones in there at the four to provide floor spacing.

One possible intriguing matchup will be if Michael Carter-Williams spends any team guarding Harden. I’d like to see if the rookie possesses the lateral quickness to prevent one of the premier drivers in the league from getting into the paint. Houston will likely be able to carve up the Sixers from behind the arc, as they have plenty of players capable of knocking down the three-ball in Lin, Harden, Casspi, Chandler Parsons, Patrick Beverley, and Francisco Garcia (questionable with the flu). The other major area of concern is rebounding where Houston ranks first in the league behind Howard and Omer Asik. Thad Young will have a herculean task going up against Asik when Houston uses its twin towers lineup.

Last time I checked, Philadelphia is not Los Angeles; the weather was a dead giveaway. Houston takes this game by double digits.