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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Ben DuBose

Takeaways: Defensive slide continues as Sixers star Joel Embiid blasts Rockets

Joel Embiid Rockets Alperen Sengun Sixers Dillon Brooks Amen Thompson Cam Whitmore Itamar Houston (Organization) Ime Udoka

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 just 1-4 on its season-long road trip of six games and is a ghastly 4-14 away from home this season.

Because of that, Ime Udoka’s Rockets now 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 No. 10 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 recent 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 (60.0%).

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 that 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 (50.0%), 2-of-5 on 3-pointers (40.0%)
  • 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 No. 2 overall in net defensive rating earlier this season, the Rockets are currently at No. 8 among the NBA’s 30 teams, and at No. 19 in nine January games. For the season, Houston remains winless when giving up at least 120 points, and they’ve 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 tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.

Jan. 15 Rockets-76ers reaction

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