• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rockets seek sixth win in seven games vs 76ers

Mar 18, 2007 - 1:47 PM Houston (41-25) at Philadelphia (26-40) 6:00 pm EST

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Houston Rockets can not afford to let up in their bid for homecourt advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.

Tracy McGrady and Rafer Alston look to lead the Rockets to their sixth victory in seven contests Sunday when they try to complete a regular-season sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The league's second-best defense (91.3), the Rockets are in fifth place in the Western Conference, two games behind the Utah Jazz (43-23). They are looking to return to the postseason after last season's 34-win campaign.

A two-time scoring champ, McGrady is averaging 24.0 points in his last nine games. He scored 24 to lead Houston in Friday's 114-100 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Alston made five 3-pointers and scored 23 points and center Yao Ming added 23 with 12 rebounds for the Rockets, who posted a 47-33 rebounding advantage.

Houston has won eight of the last nine encounters against Philadelphia, including a 105-84 triumph January 29. McGrady scored 25 points and Juwan Howard added 20 with 10 rebounds.

After a dismal start, the 76ers have shown recent improvement, winning eight of their last nine home games and eight of 10 overall. The surge has moved them within four games of the New Jersey Nets (30-36) for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Philadelphia rebounded from losses to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday and Wednesday's defeat against the Chicago Bulls with Friday's 89-88 win over Utah. Kyle Korver nailed the go-ahead jumper with 5.1 seconds remaining and Andre Iguodala scored 23 points.

Iguodala has led the 76ers in scoring in 21 of their last 24 games. However, he is averaging just 9.0 points in five career meetings against Houston.