Harden returns, but Sixers come up short in double OT to Rockets

Dec 6, 2022 - 5:28 AM

How?

How did the Philadelphia 76ers lose to the Houston Rockets 132-123 on a night when James Harden returned to the Sixers' starting lineup after (allegedly) healing from a foot injury?

How did the Sixers lose to a Houston Rockets team that (before tonight) had six wins on the season?

Why did this team with Harden returning to the lineup with Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris (who quietly had another VERY GOOD game) need double overtime only to lose by nine in a game where they should have beat the brakes off a young, inexperienced team?

There are no words to describe tonight’s loss, but your hosts Adio Royster and David Early will attempt to rationalize it as best they can. The Rockets won this game. There are no ifs, and, or buts about it. They controlled the pace after falling behind 10-0 to start the game. The Rockets outrebounded the Sixers. They played harder than the Sixers. They had more heart than the Sixers.

This game should be a gut-check game early in the schedule, especially after losing BADLY to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies last week. Thankfully, the Sixers' next game doesn’t come until Friday night when they welcome LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers to the Wells Fargo Center.

Adio and David recap tonight’s game, and in part two of the podcast, they take a different side of a piece written by Paul Hudrick on Monday. While it is true that not too much is known about this year’s Sixers team, there are some things that you can point to where one could say, “Yup. We know this about this year’s team.”It’s the only way we could put any positive spin on tonight’s loss folks.

We did what we could.

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