3 sightings after Maxey (39 points), undermanned Sixers fall to Rockets in OT

3 sightings after Maxey (39 points), undermanned Sixers fall to Rockets in OT originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers were agonizingly close to a gutsy, shorthanded victory on Wednesday.

At the end of the night, they came away with another loss.

The Rockets earned a 122-115 overtime victory at the Wells Fargo Center to improve to 14-6. The Sixers fell to 3-14.

Tyrese Maxey posted 39 points, 10 assists and five steals. Rockets guard Jalen Green had 41 points.

The Sixers remained without Joel Embiid (dealing with left knee injury), Paul George (bone bruise in left knee) and Kyle Lowry (right hip strain).

Caleb Martin also missed his first game of the season due to back soreness. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said before the game that Martin has been dealing with soreness and pain in his back since falling hard on it during a win last Friday over the Nets. Martin is “day to day,” the nurse said.

The Sixers next head to Detroit to play the Pistons on Saturday. Here are observations of their OT loss to Houston:

The Sixers bring more juice

Nurse opened the night with a Guerschon Yabusele-Andre Drummond frontcourt.

The bar was low, but the Sixers’ early energy was significantly higher than it had been to start theirs Blowout loss Sunday to the Clippers. Andre Drummond grabbed two offensive rebounds on the game’s first possession, Kelly Oubre Jr. got a chase-down block on Dillon Brooks, and the Sixers beat Houston on a couple of hustle plays. At times, the Rockets looked like a team play the night after an overtime win.

However, the Sixers’ shooting was still poor to start. The team began 2 for 9 from the floor and 1 for 8 from three-point range. Jared McCain narrowly missed two threes, but he managed to do some damage in the paint. He made a lefty fast-break layup on Rockets big man Alperen Sengun and a pull-up mid-range jumper. The Sixers went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-10 edge.

Unfortunately for the Sixers, Green’s scoring was the story of the first quarter. A 30.3 percent three-point shooter this season prior to Wednesday’s game, Green drained three long jumpers in the first period. Houston took a 35-24 lead on a deep, buzzer-beating Fred VanVleet three to end the first. Once again, it wasn’t long before the Sixers faced a double-digit deficit.

Bright night for the Council

Both Maxey and McCain shouldered a heavy offensive load when the other was on the bench.

Each forced some contested mid-range shots, though it would be understandable if they didn’t instinctively see drives and kicks to shooters as a strong option. The Sixers regularly spurned decent three-point chances and had plenty of possessions dwindling until the final seconds of the shot clock as well.

Ricky Council IV checked in with 10:29 left in the second quarter and immediately provided a significant spark. He swatted a McCain miss, eagerly joined scraps for rebounds and constantly tried to create fast breaks. Council was not perfect in all these endeavors, but his activity and athleticism were both welcome.

KJ Martin also played for an extended period during a Sixers run in the second quarter. Martin converted two left layups, Maxey sank a three and two Yabusele free throws lifted the Sixers to a 49-48 lead late in the second quarter.

Martin and Council were the only two members of the Sixers’ second unit after the break. Council (12 points, 10 rebounds) was effective again, logging a season-high 27 minutes. On an appealing sequence, he made a difficult three late in the shot clock, then stole the ball from Green and dropped a smart pass in transition to Yabusele, who was fouled.

Sixers force frantic finish, can’t get the job done in OT

A brutal Brooks night offensively — 0 for 11 from the floor — helped the Sixers’ defense Wednesday.

In contrast, Yabusele (22 points, seven rebounds) raised his season three-point percentage up to 43.5 with a 4-for-6 game. Maxey assisted on a pick-and-pop Yabusele three and then hit one of his own early in the third quarter.

Drummond also played well in the third. He was solid in his matchup against Sengun and had effective, disruptive moments when he ventured out to the perimeter in pick-and-roll coverage.

Offensively, the Sixers mixed in the Yabusele post-up, but largely continued to lean on Maxey and McCain. The Sixers were highly displeased with several no-calls on aggressive Maxey drives. He attempted 34 field goals and five free throws in the game.

The All-Star guard didn’t stop attacking, though, and he scored several key buckets as Houston appeared on the brink of a meaningful run. His tightly guarded three in front of the Sixers’ bench cut the Rockets’ lead to 104-100 with 3:27 left in the fourth quarter.

It hurt the Sixers that McCain had a second straight shooting game. He went 9 for 34 overall from the field and 2 for 18 from three-point range against the Clippers and Rockets.

However, Council came through with a big jumper late in the fourth quarter, spurring a frantic final stretch of regulation. Maxey ended up drawing a crucial foul on Brooks and getting whistled while hitting a three-pointer with 11.1 seconds left. He made all three of his free throws to tie the game at 108-all.

After a timeout, the Rockets then isolated Sengun against Drummond. Martin shaded over to assist at the perfect time, blocking Sengun’s mid-range attempt to send the game into overtime.

The Sixers had a great start to the extra session, taking a quick lead on a Yabusele corner three, but Houston scored the next nine points. Sengun came through with six on a pair of put-backs and a slick spinning layup.

The Rockets had a cleaner end to overtime than the fourth quarter, ending their back-to-back with two OT wins. The Sixers fell to 2-1 this year in overtime games and enter the game 11 games under .500.