The Philadelphia 76ers put on a show Monday night, thoroughly outplaying the injury-riddled Houston Rockets.
The Philadelphia 76ers bounced back after a disappointing loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, as they destroyed the Houston Rockets by a score of 121-93. The Sixers didn’t nessicary shut down James Harden, as he still had 37 points, but they contained everyone else on the Rockets. They did not let one guy beat them in this game.
The Sixers were missing Jimmy Butler in this game with a sprained right wrist, but they didn’t need him in this one because Joel Embiid and Corey Brewer came to play against Houston. Outside of the first quarter, Houston was never really in this game. Everyone is starting to see that if Chris Paul and Clint Capela do not come back 100 percent and give Harden a second and third scoring option, the Rockets could be looking at first round NBA Playoffs exit.
Philly has a tough stretch of games coming up so it was good to see them win against a good team that was shorthanded at home. Let’s take a look at some player grades below.
The philadelphia 76ers are 2-1 in what looks to be one of the toughest 12-game stretches of the 2018-19 season. Also toward the end of January and continuing in the beginning of February, the team goes out west for a very hard road trip.
If the team can go .500 down this tough stretch of games, I would be very happy, as Philly lacks depth and has some lingering injuries with key players. With the Feb. 7 trade deadline approaching, don’t be surprised if Elton Brand goes out there to add a veteran wing to come off the bench to provide defense and three-point shooting.
Their next game will be against the San Antonio Spurs at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night. In the coming days we will have to see how long Jimmy Butler’s sprained wrist will hold him out of Philadelphia’s lineup, which will affect Philly’s hard matches against playoff teams.