The shorthanded Sixers are looking to right the ship against rising rockets

There’s the famous line delivered by Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in Godfather: Part III, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” This season for the Philadelphia 76ers is somewhat the opposite. We want to be invested and back to rooting for this team to turn the corner. But then they do something to drive us out again.

We had the full experience this weekend. On Friday, Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain led the young backcourt in a win over Brooklyn. We found ourselves thinking, “OK, maybe the Sixers aren’t the title contenders this season we were promised, but it was fun and I can get behind this group.” Then the team went out against the Clippers on Sunday and laid an absolute egg in a 125-99 defeat.

Reinforcements will not come as the Sixers battle tonight against the Houston Rockets, who have climbed up the ranks of the Western Conference in this first quarter of the season with 13-6. Joel Embiid, Paul George and Kyle Lowry all remain out for Philadelphia, while Caleb Martin is currently questionable with lower back soreness. Much of the scoring burden will remain on the M&M backcourt with the veteran All-Stars on the sidelines.

If there’s any silver lining, the Sixers have another rest advantage tonight, something that has actually favored them more often than not in the early part of the season, but where they haven’t taken advantage of it. The Rockets were in Minnesota last night and played 53 minutes in a 117-111 overtime win.

Houston has second-best defensive rating in the league behind Oklahoma City. The vets they brought in last year, Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, are still doing their thing. Tari Eason, Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. are all long-limbed, athletic youngsters who cover enormous ground on that side of the field. It’s putting it mildly to predict that things could get ugly for a Sixers offense that has often looked uncomplicated and rates as one of the worst in the league.

That the Rockets’ athleticism shows up on the opposite end of the court in terms of creating other opportunities as Houston sits at third in the league in offensive rebound percentage. They are not going to scorch the nets, as the Rockets are one of them worst three-point shooting team in the NBA (yes, the Sixers have been worse). Brooks is having a career year from behind the arc at 40.6 percent, but that’s about it. High-volume lifters like VanVleet and Jalen Green are just a little over 30 percent. Rookie max wide receiver Alperen Sengun leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.5 points along with 10.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He had a triple-double last night in the win over the Wolves. The Sixers have been small-ball recently with Guerschon Yabusele starting at center, and I’ll be curious to see how that lineup fares against Sengun.

Houston doesn’t profile as a good matchup for Philadelphia, where the Rockets possess the length and athleticism to make life difficult for Maxey and McCain on the offensive end. Plus, there’s the whole “Sixers have played like absolute horse dung more often than not” thing to consider. Let’s hope the Rockets are wiped out from playing overtime and hopping on a plane in the middle of the night to get to Philadelphia for this one. Maybe we’ll see a repeat of last Friday and our smiling assassins can work a little magic.

Update: 5:29 p.m. ET.

The Sixers have officially ruled Caleb Martin out for Wednesday’s contest against the Rockets. In his pregame media availability, Nick Nurse confirmed that the soreness in his back stemmed from the fall he took in last Friday’s win against Brooklyn, nothing else caused it.

While the nurse said Martin played through and is in “significant pain,” Martin is still day-to-day and doesn’t expect to be out long.

There is still some time before the starting lineups are officially announced, but Nurse said he expects to insert Andre Drummond into the starting lineup. That slides Guerschon Yabusele up to four with the expected backcourt of Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain and Kelly Oubre Jr.

Game details

WHO: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Houston Rockets
When: 19:00 ET
Where: The Center, Philadelphia, PA
Clock: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers