A meaningless win to boost the Philadelphia 76ers’ spirits.
The Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets played all available starters in this game despite no meaningful stakes. The Sixers even gave 22 minutes of run despite a hurt wrist, which he visibly aggravated on multiple occasions in the first quarter.
While both teams played their starters, the product was not a competitive basketball game. The Sixers essentially controlled this game from the opening tip, spare a few brief flourishes from Houston.
Philadelphia ended the first quarter on a 19-5 run before proceeding with similarly dominant basketball in the second quarter. The ball moved well on offense, and the Sixers quickly took advantage of Houston’s small-ball rotation. It wasn’t Embiid’s sharpest game — he recorded five turnovers — but he was unafraid to use his bulk against the likes of P.J. Tucker and Robert Covington.
Speaking of Covington, he and Embiid crossed paths on a couple plays — including one in which Covington sent Embiid packing at the rim. All love to Cov, who continues to fling his arms into opposing offenses’ airspace in vintage process form.
The third quarter saw a brief spark of life from the Rockets, who cut the lead to 11, but the Sixers quickly stretched the lead back into the 20s. Eight minutes into the quarter marked the end of the night for starters on both sides, and thus began the most meaningless stretch of a meaningless game.
In the end, there’s nothing of significance to take away from this. No one was going full speed — despite Embiid’s willingness to volleyball spike a loose ball while diving out of bounds on a bum wrist — and the Rockets, notably down Russell Westbrook, were clearly half asleep on defense.
The Sixers will now turn their attention to the Boston Celtics on Monday, a game which is bound to spark irrational reactions of some variety regardless of the outcome. This was essentially a warm-up to the real basketball that lies on the horizon. Strap up, folks!