Game 16: Houston Rockets Vs. Philadelphia 76ers Preview

This seems like a bad dream for the Houston Rockets.

We’re almost done with November and these guys already have 10 losses, a mark that wasn’t hit until about January of last year.

It’s quite alarming for this team that was expected to do so much more for this season.

I’m frustrated, you’re probably frustrated and I’m not sure how the team feels as they seem to be nonchalant about the whole thing.

They are losing by less of a margin but this team is too experienced to be losing games and acting like they’ve forgotten how finish games correctly.

This past match up with the Grizzlies was certainly a winnable one but they just could not put the ball in hoop. The 4th quarter was abysmal, not completing a field goal until the two-minute mark of the 4th quarter.

That’s gotta change.

They will face the 0-16 Philadelphia 76ers tonight and I have a bad feeling that they’re going to let this team come in and use us a springboard to get off the schneid.

It’s painful to say but I’m not ruling it out of the question.

They have the league’s worst offense (89.8 PPG) and their losing streak dates back to last March of last season totaling 26 in-a-row.

This is the worst kind of team to face for the Rockets as the Sixers are hungry for “W.”

We can only hope that it doesn’t happen tonight — it will also be interesting to see the match up of Dwight Howard and rookie center Jhalil Okafor who is averaging close to a double-double per game (18.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG).

Let’s hope for the best.

So who’s leading the charge for the Sixers?

Okafor is the scoring champ (18.4 PPG) and top shot-blocker (1.80 BPG), Nerlins Noel is the top board-getter (8.4 RPG), T.J. McConnell in dimes (6.2 APG), and Robert Covington in steals (2.40 SPG).

Let’s talk about what the Sixers do well.

The Sixers still have a lot of work to do to get better in a lot of categories but here’s what they do:

They love the basketball in their hands. The Sixers are ranked 12th in the league as far as PACE factor, averaging about 99.6 possessions per game.

Injuries:

Patrick Beverley returned to the court in limited action Wednesday against the Grizz with four, two rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes. I would expect the same for tonight with a slight bump in minutes as he gets his conditioning back from missing the previous five games. With as bad as the Rockets have been in at that position thus far, he’ll need to start as a necessity eventually.

Howard has been cleared to start playing in back-to-back games starting with this weekend against the New York Knicks Sunday on the road and then the Detroit Pistons Monday. The team hasn’t been much successful without him, usually losing when he’s out. This is glorious news because as I know it’s frustrating for himself and his teammates, it’s just as mind-numbing for us fans because we all know that value of what his presence means in the paint.

Nik Stauskas suffered a left knee contusion earlier this week and will definitely be out tonight as he heals from that injury that will sideline him through next week.

Tony Wroten is also suffering from a knee injury and not expected back until the middle of next month.

Sources: Jonathan Feigen (Houston Chronicle) and Keith Pompey (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Three Things to Watch:

Terrence Jones vs. Noel
Howard vs. Okafor
Will the Rockets allow the Sixers to get off the schneid?

Prediction:

101-90 in a Rockets’ win!

The Rockets take on the Sixers at home at Toyota Center.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.

The game will be televised on ROOT Sports Southwest and broadcast on SportsTalk 790 AM (KBME) and La Ranchera 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.

Go Rockets!

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