The road woes continued for the Rockets in Monday afternoon’s 124-115 loss (box score) to the Philadelphia 76ers (25-13). With the latest defeat, Houston (19-20) is 1-4 on its six-game road trip and a ghastly 4-14 away from home this season.
Ime Udoka’s Rockets find themselves below .500 for only the second time since Nov. 6 — and they’re just a half-game ahead of the Lakers (19-21) for 10th in the Western Conference standings, which represents the final play-in tournament spot.
In Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee, Sixers star Joel Embiid returned from a knee injury and quickly showed why he’s the reigning NBA MVP. In 31 minutes, Embiid dominated with 41 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 12-of-21 overall (57.1%) and making 16-of-17 from the free-throw line (94.1%).
“We have to be physical without fouling,” Udoka said postgame. “We were undisciplined there. We know he’s a guy that’s gonna swipe.”
“The things we talked about, we didn’t really execute on that end, defensively,” Udoka said. “We wanna be physical without fouling and when they were in the bonus, we gave them some easy shots or some questionable calls with the sweep through and all that.”
Rising star Tyrese Maxey added 27 points and 7 assists at point guard while making 6-of-10 from 3-point range (60%).
Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, but his five first-quarter turnovers helped put Houston in an early hole it never came close to digging itself out of.
Houston’s other statistical standouts included:
- Dillon Brooks: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals; 7-of-9 shooting (77.8%), 2-of-3 on 3-pointers (66.7%)
- Jabari Smith Jr.: 13 points, 7 rebounds; 5-of-9 shooting (55.6%)
- Jalen Green: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists; 7-of-16 shooting (43.8%), 1-of-7 on 3-pointers (14.3%), 5-of-7 on free throws (71.4%)
- Cam Whitmore: 14 points, 6 rebounds in 23 minutes; 6-of-12 shooting (50%), 2-of-5 on 3-pointers (40%)
- Amen Thompson: 14 points, 3 rebounds in 19 minutes; 7-of-8 shooting (87.5%)
Tari Eason remains sidelined by a lower left leg injury, which traces back to a stress reaction in the 2023-24 preseason. His playing status will be re-evaluated when the team returns home later this week.
Eason’s absence has certainly harmed Houston’s increasingly leaky defense. After ranking as high as second in net defensive rating earlier this season, the Rockets are eighth among the NBA’s 30 teams, and 19th in nine January games. For the season, Houston remains winless when giving up at least 120 points, and it has allowed that in all four losses on this road trip.
Here’s our look at Monday’s highlights and postgame interviews from Philadelphia, along with reaction by media members and fans.
Houston finishes its increasingly miserable road trip on Wednesday at New York (23-17), where the tip is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.