76ers at Rockets
The Philadelphia 76ers will be on the verge of another ugly milestone when they visit Houston on Friday in a matchup of team teams desperate for a victory. The 76ers blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead in a loss at Boston on Wednesday, their NBA record-tying 26th straight defeat dating to last season, which also pulled them within two of the worst start in league history.
The 26-game slide matches the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers, the 2013-14 76ers and the 1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL for the longest in major U.S. professional sports history. "It is hard," Philadelphia forward Nerlens Noel told reporters after the loss in Boston, the team's third in a row of five points or fewer. "You're so close to getting that first 'W.' There's a couple of plays that you've got to sleep on." The Rockets have had plenty of sleepless nights, too, and have a three-game losing streak of their own to try to snap. They had 20 turnovers and received little offense outside of James Harden (40 points) in a 102-93 loss to Memphis on Wednesday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (0-16): Head coach Brett Brown has been toying with lineup changes, particularly as they relate to Noel, who came off the bench at the beginning of Philadelphia's six-game road trip and has struggled since returning to the starting lineup. Noel had one field goal in seven attempts in 34 minutes of the loss at Boston and is averaging 7.9 points over a nine-game span. Brown has shown signs of splitting up Noel and rookie center Jahlil Okafor in certain situations, telling the Philadelphia Inquirer he has "never coached more moving parts in my life."
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (5-10): Harden was 12-of-19 from the floor and hit half of his team's 10 3-pointers Wednesday, but his fellow starters combined to shoot 11-of-32 as Houston was held below 100 points for the sixth time in a 1-7 slump. "Of course we are all frustrated, but the confidence is still there," Harden told the media. "We're getting a lot of open shots that we normally make and they're just not falling. So it's putting more pressure on our defense." It was Harden's first shooting performance of better than 50 percent since a win at the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 7, as the star guard sports a 39.5 percent mark overall.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Philadelphia SF Robert Covington is averaging 16.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.7 steals over his last three games.
2. Rockets SG Corey Brewer is 3-of-18 from the floor during the three-game losing streak to drop his field-goal percentage to 29.1.
3. Sixers SG Nik Stauskas (knee) missed Wednesday's game and is expected to sit out at least the next two games.