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Third Quarter

The third quarter struggles continued, at least defensively for the Sixers, as the Rockets opened the half shooting 4-of-5 from the field and scored on six of their first eight trips down the floor. They really didn’t make any sort of adjustment on Green, who was able to take Maxey off the dribble fairly easily.

The Sixers were able to get some stops and keep Houston from going on an extended run. Drummond started that by deflecting a pass on the perimeter and created a fast break for himself. He continued to fight very hard on the offensive glass as well, probably his best effort of the season. It helped that Maxey got going from deep as well. He made three triples in the third after just one in the first half.

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Just like he did in the first half, Council provided quite a burst of energy upon checking back in. He took a (perhaps ill-advised) step-back three to tie the game up, and poked away a steal that gave the Sixers free throws and the lead on the next possession. It was a short lived lead though as Yabusele went 1-of-4 from the line in the next two possessions. A corner three from Aaron Holiday made it a six-point Rockets’ lead to end the third.

Fourth Quarter

The Sixers made a lot of good plays to start the fourth, but couldn’t string them together to cut down the lead. Council had a chase down block and some hard fought offensive rebounds, Maxey had a really tough finish at the rim, but each time Houston had an answer.

Maxey had his most consistent stretch so far, knocking down three baskets in a row, but the Sixers still couldn’t come up with the stops on the other end. On top of having the advantage in terms of length and athleticism, it felt like every loose ball fell into the Rockets’ lap early in the fourth.

After cutting the lead to four, the Sixers looked pretty dead in the water by turning it over on their next two possessions. After falling down to eight, they fought back with a Council three and Yabu layup to give themselves a chance down three with 21.5 seconds remaining. Maxey put up a rushed three trying to draw a foul, but he was successful in doing so. Tied up at 11.1 seconds left, Houston went to Sengun in isolation on Drummond, but KJ Martin came over and blocked the jump shot attempt, sending this to OT.

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Overtime

It appears the Sixers offense’ ran out of gas just trying to get to this point. After Yabusele knocked a corner three to start it off, the Sixers went scoreless on their next five possessions which sunk them.

The Sixers will hit the road again after the holiday as their next matchup is Saturday in Detroit. They’ll take on Tobias Harris and the Pistons at 7 p.m. ET.

Sometimes when (checks notes) Jalen Green gets going there’s just nothing you can do about it.

The Sixers fell 122-115 in overtime to the Houston Rockets Wednesday night off the back of a 41-point performance from Jalen Green.

After a slow start, Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 39 points, shooting 14-of-34 from the field — 30 of those points came in the second half. He also finished with nine assists.

Jared McCain had another off night from deep. He did not make a three and finished with 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Guerschon Yabusele went for 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

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If things were slightly more stable, this could be seen as a well-fought, shorthanded loss, but there’s just no room for that left.

On top of the injured stars, Caleb Martin was ruled out pregame due to upper back soreness.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

It was a typical start for the Sixers as they opened the game 3-of-10 from the field and missed their first four threes of the game. Inserted into the starting lineup, Andre Drummond had a better start relative to what he’s shown so far. He grabbed a couple offensive rebounds and threw a nice skip pass to the corner for a Yabusele three.

Meanwhile for Houston, it only took half the quarter for Jalen Green to get to double digits as he had 18 in the opening quarter. The Sixers’ effort level at the start seemed better than Sunday, but Maxey still allowed him to get a wide open dunk after falling asleep on the baseline.

Kelly Oubre Jr. was the Sixers’ leading scorer in both points and efficiency in the first. That’s only troubling given the fact that he hasn’t hit a three-pointer since last Friday. He had nine in the first on 4-of-8 shooting. The Sixers thought they had cut the lead to eight but Fred VanVleet hit a half court heave to make it an 11-point game after the first.

Second Quarter

Ricky Council IV checked in early in the second and did put a little bit of life back in the building after a put-back dunk and an offensive foul drawn on Steven Adams. McCain followed up on that hustle, chasing Reed Sheppard all the way down after he’d turned it over to contest the fast break layup and force a miss. McCain capped off that play by circling the paint and scooping up a layup in traffic.

The Sixers were able to build off that stretch. They kept the Rockets from scoring a field goal for three minutes across the middle of the quarter. Maxey’s shot quality improved as he involved his teammates. He found a roaming Yabusele on the wing and KJ Martin on the block a couple of times, and that helped open things up for him.

Houston calling a timeout did help them re-group and stop the Sixers’ flow offensively. Even with Maxey’s stretch in the middle, he was having a tough night at the rim, getting a number of layups blocked. The Sixers went into the half trailing by four.