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76ers tie NBA record with 26th straight loss

Mar 28, 2014 - 3:56 AM Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia 76ers have taken tanking to a new level.

The Sixers tied the NBA record of 26 straight losses with a 120-98 defeat to the Houston Rockets on Thursday.

Philadelphia, which hasn't won since a buzzer-beating victory in Boston over the Celtics on Jan. 29, joins the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers as the only two teams to drop 26 in a row.

The Sixers can set the NBA record with a loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night.

"We move on," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "We're on a different path. We see this whole thing through a far different lens. Our guys, especially Michael (Carter-Williams) had a hell of a game. You can tell he's reached a rookie wall, mostly in his body and not his mind. His stats won't tell enough, but his ten assists and his speech to the team in the locker room showed tremendous leadership, I would have done that two months ago."

James Harden recorded his second career triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Rockets, who have won 11 in a row at home and five straight overall.

Terrence Jones tallied 20 points, seven boards, four steals and two blocks for Houston, which improved to 29-7 at home this season. Dwight Howard and Chandler Parsons had 17 and 16 points, respectively, with Howard also pulling down 13 rebounds.

"We got into rhythm and guys started getting stops and getting out in transition like we've been doing the last couple of games and it ended up in the result that's been coming the last couple of games," Jones said.

James Anderson ended with 30 points for the Sixers, who have lost 12 in a row on the road. Henry Sims and Thaddeus Young donated 18 and 15 points, respectively, with Young also grabbing nine boards.

Houston jumped out to a 14-4 lead and held a 35-21 edge with 1:19 left in the first quarter. The Sixers, however, scored the final seven points of the period to get within seven.

Philadelphia tied the game at 43 on Anderson's layup with 6:16 to go in the second stanza. But the Rockets closed out the half on a 20-6 run to take a 63-49 lead.

Houston led by as many as 27 in the third quarter and took a 100-80 edge to the fourth.

The Rockets outscored the Sixers by a 20-18 margin in the final frame.

Game Notes

The Sixers shot 38.9 percent from the floor and went 14-of-36 from beyond the arc ... Rockets guard Patrick Beverley left the game with a right knee sprain ... Houston had 34 fast break points, compared to 15 for Philadelphia ... The Rockets outrebounded the Sixers by a 57-39 margin.