The Houston Rockets outlasted the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime, 122-115, on Wednesday, avoiding a trap game on the road against a bad team, and on the second night of a back-to-back. In the win, Jalen Green paced the Rockets with 41 points, but Alperen Sengun‘s OT takeover lifted the team to victory, while Fred VanVleet struggled, scoring only 13 points in 42 minutes. Meanwhile, Tyrese Maxey scored 39 points in 45 minutes, in yet another game where co-stars Paul George and Joel Embiid did not play.
Prior to overtime, Sengun had struggled, but he suddenly woke up in overtime, scoring most of the Rockets’ points, and VanVleet told him about it after the game.
According to Rockets coach Ime Udoka, “Fred VanVleet looked at his fake watch and told Sengun, ‘Thanks for showing up at 9:30,’” per ClutchFans on X, formerly Twitter.
Rockets def. 76ers, sit on 3rd in the West
Before beating the undermanned 76ers, the Rockets had already shown flashes of improvement last season, missing the play-in tournament only by a hair, and now they’ve taken things to another level.
With the win, they now have 14 wins on the season, most in the Western conference, though they sit in third because they have more losses than the Thunder and the Warriors.
Moreover, Alperen Sengun’s performance may have made a strong case for him being the actual best player on the Rockets, Fred VanVleet could be right in that the Turkish swingman needs to show up earlier in games.
A clearly inferior team in the 76ers shouldn’t have taken the Rockets to overtime, but then these so-called “trap games” are the games contenders need to win if they want to make a run in the postseason.
Meanwhile, the Sixers’ woes continue. This loss has given them a 3-14 record, second-worst in the entire league, just ahead of the 2-15 Washington Wizards, currently on a 12-game losing streak despite strong performances from No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr.
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Even after Maxey called out Embiid in a team meeting recently, it still wouldn’t matter if the former MVP couldn’t play anyway.
Besides Embiid, major free agency acquisition Paul George has only played in eight games due to injury, while latest role player Caleb Martin did not play against Houston due to back soreness.
These developments are unfortunate for the 76ers, billed as title contenders in the offseason because of their roster moves.
However, injuries have turned a promising year into a disaster, with Maxey looking like 2005 Kobe Bryant leading a group of role players and reserves to a losing season.