What is the story about?
Everything is bad again.
Hours after learning Joel Embiid would be out with appendicitis, the Sixers fell to the Houston Rockets Thursday night 113-102 at Toyota Center. They cut a 28-point lead down to five, but didn’t have enough to complete the comeback.
They Sixers are now 43-37 and fading fast in the Eastern Conference playoff picture with the Toronto Raptors crushing the Miami Heat.
Tyrese Maxey bounced back a bit, going for 23 points on 9-of-20 from the field. VJ Edgecombe didn’t have the most
efficient night, but was one of the big catalysts of the fourth-quarter comeback attempt with a strong overall game. He had 21 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals. Quentin Grimes also had a big night, going for 20 points.
Kevin Durant was exceptional with a game-high 29.
The team announced earlier in the day that Embiid would get surgery in Houston. During the game, it was announced that Embiid underwent a successful appendectomy. Given the recovery time it will take, it’s possible we won’t see the big fella on the court again this season. Just a brutal break for the former MVP and his teammates.
Here are some observations from the loss.
First Quarter
- On the first possession of the game, Paul George forced a turnover on Sengun which turned into an Oubre dunk in transition. George then had a nice drive and finish on Amen Thompson. Not much has gone right for the Sixers this season, but PG has looked like PG over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, George also picked up his second foul late in the quarter.
- You figured the Sixers needed an excellent Maxey performance to hang around in this one. Early on, his recent struggles continued. He missed his first three shots — including a step-back three that was way off — and committed another turnover on a drive. He went scoreless.
- Adem Bona did a solid job on his Turkish national team teammate Alperen Sengun. Sengun was still getting his, but Bona was making him work on both ends.
- Oubre was the main source of offense early with 12 points, including two threes. Oubre is on pace to have the best three-point shooting season of his career. The Sixers’ problems were mostly on the other end of the court, but turnovers helped the Rockets’ cause. The Sixers let Houston get out on the break and couldn’t slow down the Rockets’ offense for most of the first quarter. Houston was up 35-26 after one.
Second Quarter
- Nick Nurse opened the second quarter with Dominick Barlow at the five. Andre Drummond didn’t have the greatest run against Sengun in his first-quarter stint.
- Well, it wouldn’t be two straight games with scoreless first halves for Maxey. He had a slick, lightning-quick drive for his first bucket. Unfortunately, he turned the ball over a couple possessions later. It looked like Maxey just lost the ball on a drive. You have to wonder how much that pinky is affecting him.
- Stop me if you’ve heard this before — defensive rebounding was an issue for the Sixers. After Sengun drew a foul on Bona crashing the offensive glass, the 6-foot-0 Aaron Holiday snagged an offensive rebound and put it back. Whether Embiid plays or not, this is an evergreen issue for the Sixers.
- The best way to describe Durant against the Sixers’ defenders is like when a tall person puts their hand on a shorter person’s head and the shorter person swings wildly. They just had no chance. KD put up 17 points in the first half.
- Maxey closed the period strong, dropping 15 in the second, including three threes, but the main story of the first half was turnovers. The Sixers committed 11 leading to 20 Rockets points. That was basically the difference in the game as Houston took a 73-56 lead into the locker room.
Third Quarter
- It felt like the Sixers were just mentally checked out. Josh Okogie destroyed them on the glass, they continued to turn the ball over and the Rockets’ half-court offense carved them up. The lead was up to 85-61 midway through the quarter.
- It’s hard to even write about what I’m watching. This feels like a slow-motion trainwreck. If you’re an optimist, you could point to Maxey getting going as a positive. He turned in two straight rough performances, including what was arguably one of the worst games of his career in San Antonio. He at least got into rhythm against some pretty tough defenders Thursday.
- Another small positive is Barlow playing Durant very tough on a couple possessions. You aren’t going to lock up one of the greatest scorers of all time, but Barlow made the future Hall of Famer work, using his length to bother Durant as much as he could.
- It was an ugly third quarter overall. The Rockets took the period 23-17. They led 96-73 heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- The Sixers did cut the lead below 20 thanks to Quentin Grimes and VJ Edgecombe. The combination of Edgecombe’s talent with the dog he has in him is fun. The guy plays hard every night and he tracks down loose balls as well as any player I’ve seen.
- A 20-2 run got the Rockets’ lead down to seven. Most of it was fueled by the Sixers’ defense. All three of Edgecombe, Grimes and Barlow were flying around. Credit where it’s due: Drummond shook off his rough start to put together a solid performance. He was the big on the floor for the run and had 12 rebounds and five assists. Though he only recorded one steal, his quick hands did lead to a bunch of Houston turnovers.
- A Durant three out of a timeout pushed the lead back to double-digits. Then KD found Aaron Holiday for an open corner three. One guy who wasn’t on the court for the Sixers’ run was Maxey. Nurse got him back in after those threes and he quickly found his way to the basket for an and-one.
- A pair of huge Edgecombe buckets cut the deficit all the way down to five, but then somehow Durant got wide open for a three. That triple put the Rockets up 110-102 with 1:15. It was a valiant comeback effort, but the Sixers came up short.
