Sixers Lose Heartbreaker in Houston

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Houston 88, Philadelphia 87 – Box Score

They say an important quality in sports is the ability to quickly put recent setbacks out of your mind. A quarterback needs to forget an interception and step into his next deep ball, a pitcher has to forget the homer run he just gave up and get the next hitter out. Well, consider the Sixers the lead character from Memento, because one night after suffering one of the worst losses in franchise history, they nearly pulled out the most exciting game of the season in Houston.

When Tony Wroten hit a stepback three with just under a minute left to put the Sixers ahead, it looked like the Sixers were going to shock the world and earn their first victory of the season. Instead, fans were subject to a bizarre sequence of events that included Brett Brown kicking the ball to earn a technical foul and Michael Carter-Williams having the ball stripped off his leg for a turnover. After James Harden put the Rockets back ahead with under 10 seconds left, a final MCW jumper clanged off the rim, keeping the Sixers winless on the year.

I won’t pretend it was the best game from the Sixers, as they turned the ball over 23 times and ultimately couldn’t take advantage of an exceptionally cold shooting night by Houston (7-34 from three). Nevertheless, while a 1-point loss might hurt even more than a 53-point defeat in the moment, when removed a bit from the heartbreak, it leaves much to be encouraged about from a fan’s perspective.

Of course, it always helps to help to have two of the top players in the NBA like the Rockets. Dwight Howard finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds, while also blocking 7 Sixer shot attempts (and diverting countless other forays to the rim). The fact that he turned the ball over 6 times and only went 3-12 from the foul line helped the Sixers hang around, but he terrorized them on the offensive glass and protecting the rim all evening. He also absolutely absolutely snuffed out a MCW dunk attempt. James Harden dropped 35 points, thanks in large part to a 14-16 mark. His ability to get to the rim at will and either finish or draw the foul makes him arguably the most dangerous scorer in the league. We saw that talent on full display in the last two Rockets possessions, as he scored the game’s final 4 points to lead his team to victory.

Wroten wasn’t perfect, shooting just 7-16 and turning the ball over 4 times, but in addition to his big plays down the stretch, he also did a great job setting up easy shots for his teammates. Wroten tallied 6 assists in 7 minutes of play in the first quarter to help the team jump out to a double-digit lead, finishing with team-highs of 19 points and 8 assists. Plus, he gave Kostas Papanikolaou his welcome to the NBA moment.

As for the guy Wroten is still starting at point guard over, Michael Carter-Williams is still struggling to re-adjust to the NBA game after his long rehab. MCW traveled on his first possession of the game, completely missed the rim with his first two three-point attempts, and of course, had the turnover and missed shot on the Sixers’ final two possessions. Still, he finished 2-4 from three, stepping into a three right after a Trevor Ariza triple had given Houston a 7-point lead in the closing minutes, and was the clear floor leader in a couple big Sixer runs.

In regard to the rest of the roster, Hollis Thompson bounced back from a scoreless night against the Mavericks to drop 12 points on 5-7 shooting, including a beautiful spin move off a backdoor cut to finish with a circus lay-up. K.J. McDaniels had his usual jaw-dropping athletic play, grabbing an -board in the second quarter and effortlessly gliding up for a quick, putback dunk. Finally, Henry Sims continued his strong play of late, finishing with 14 points and 3 blocks, and hitting a couple huge mid-range jumpers down the stretch.

The Sixers conclude their Texas triangle trip Monday in San Antonio, hopefully putting forth the same sort of effort we saw Friday in Houston. Keep your feet to yourself, Coach Brown.