Harden Hoists Houston Rockets Past Sixers 88-87

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

This was intended to be an easy win for the Houston Rockets.

In professional sports, there are no guarantees and certainly that’s why teams have to play the games.

That was certainly the case last night as the Rockets took on the Philadelphia 76ers at Toyota Center.

If one really thinks about it, it’s not surprising.

The 76ers just got demolished by the Dallas Mavericks the night before by 53 points seriously elevating this team to laughingstock status of the NBA.

They may already be there.

This is the worst 76ers team that I’ve ever seen that has been fielded but they hung with the Rockets — board-for-board, bucket-for-bucket, tit-for-tat.

This was the worst shooting performance the Rockets have had all season — connecting nearly 37 percent of their field goals and 20 percent from behind-the-arc.

And it showed.

The Rockets started right out the gate with a bunch a bricks that were so plentiful that I’m sure the maintenance men at Toyota Center had to consider whether or not to grab some orange paint to repaint those rims.

It was bad. Missed shots and free throws galore.

On the other had, the Sixers started out quite with a dual attack of Brandon Davies and Hollis Thompson connecting on quite a few threes and layups to build up a small lead.

The 76ers went on 12-3 run for the last seven minutes of the 1st quarter leading the Rockets by nine at the end.

Luckily, Jason Terry put a stop to it but sinking a three-pointer of his own with 1:20 left in the 1st quarter. Sixers 28, Rockets 19

The 76ers started out the 2nd quarter sticking it to the Rockets even more with two put-back points — one shot and one dunk by Drew Gordon and KJ McDaniels, respectively.

This pushed their lead to 13 points leading the Rockets 32-19.

The Rockets got back to basics and started their attack to get back in the game with a Donatas Motiejunas dunk with 9:45 left.

James Harden and Isaiah Canaan teamed up to help the Rockets go on a 10-4 run cutting their deficit to three points with 6:47 left in the 2nd quarter.

Canaan once again couldn’t stand for the ridiculousness going on and connected on two important threes during that aforementioned run.

Canaan went on to hit another three coupled with a Dwight Howard put-back dunk tying the game at 36 all.

Finally — it took nearly two full quarters but the Rockets were finally back in the game after continuously trading buckets with their opponent.

They ended the half tied with the 76ers 47-47.

Nov 14, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard

Michael Carter-Williams

(1) reacts after a play during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the 76ers 88-87. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

At the start of the 2nd half, the Rockets continued to stay with the Sixers even though had cooled off a bit with their shooting.

However, it was Michael Carter-Williams — last season’s Rookie of the Year — that provided a quick five points off a layup and a three-pointer to put the Sixers back up by seven with 1:19 left in the 3rd quarter.

Luckily, Howard was fouled by McDaniels and was able to connect on both of his free throws to cut the team’s deficit to five by the end of the quarter. Sixers 68, Rockets 63

The Rockets started out the 4th quarter guns a-blazing going on a 10-3 run led with a collaborative effort by Terry, Harden, Howard and Motiejunas.

It wasn’t until the 7:21 mark until the Sixers stopped the run with a free throw by Tony Wroten off a Harden shooting foul.

It became quite a duel toward the end of the quarter with Ariza and Howard leading the charge with Rockets leading by as much as by seven with 4:44 left.

Nov 14, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center

Dwight Howard

(12) and Philadelphia 76ers forward

Chris Johnson

(16) battle for the ball during the third quarter at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the 76ers 88-87. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Sixers battled back and was just like that annoying gnat that couldn’t go away with Thompson and Wroten shooting their way to keep their team the game.

Harden took charge down the stretch with about a minute to go after the Rockets were fortunately rewarded with a Carter-Williams foul that infuriated Sixers’ head coach Brett Brown causing him to be slapped with a technical foul after kicking the ball out-of-bounds.

This gave Harden three free throws — he missed the tech one but sank both personal foul free throws cutting the Rockets’ lead to one.

Carter-Williams then led the drive once the Sixers got the ball back but turned over the ball going out-of-bounds with 16.9 seconds left.

On the next play, Harden just waltzed himself into the lane to score the go-ahead layup and the eventual game-winner with nine seconds left. Rockets 88, Sixers 87

The Sixers put the ball back into Carter-Williams hands to go for the win but it was Canaan’s defense that caused that ball to hit the front of the rim allowing the Rockets to run away with the win as the score went final 88-87.

Nov 14, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) and guard

Jason Terry

(31) celebrate after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 88-87 at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Harden was phenomenal — he led all scorers with 35 points, seven dimes, six rebounds including shooting 14-for-16 from the charity stripe.

Howard chipped in 21 points and 16 rebounds and seven blocks but was an unfortunate 3-for-12 from the free throw line. This was 8th consecutive double-double in as many games as he has appeared.

James Harden Hoists Houston Rockets Past The Philadelphia 76ers 88-87

By Brian K. Patterson | Nov 15, 2014