PHILADELPHIA _ The 76ers supplied the excitement, but the Houston Rockets escaped with the victory.
Eric Gordon's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Rockets a 105-104 decision Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Houston (4-0) went on a 9-0 run in the final 3 minutes, 5 seconds remaining to pull off the win. Gordon's shot silenced a sold-out crowd of 20,682.
But before his game-winner, the Wells Fargo Center was buzzing with excitement..
Joel Embiid, once again, showed one he's one of the NBA elite players. Robert Covington and J.J. Redick displayed versatility, hitting 3s and going strong to the basket. And Ben Simmons shined again.
But the Sixers dropped to 1-4 and extended their series losing streak to eight games against the Rockets. Houston had won 10 of the teams' last 12 meetings before Wednesday.
Gordon finished with a game-high 29 points to go with five assists. He made 5 of 16 3-pointers. Rockets point guard James Harden had 27 points, a game-high 13 assists and eight turnovers.
Redick paced the Sixers with 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including going 3 of 8 on 3-pointers. Embiid had 21 points, six rebounds and two blocks
Covington had 20 points while making 4 of 12 3-pointers, while Simmons finished 14 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. He ended his streak of double-double performances at the start of the season at four.
The Sixers had an eight-point lead (93-85) with 7 minutes, 29 seconds remaining. The Rockets cut the lead to three points. However, Redick scored a 3-pointer and driving layup on consecutive possessions to make it a 100-92 game with 4:39 to play. The Sixers' final basket came on Simmons's layup that gave them a 104-96 lead with 3:05 to play.
But their execution suffered down the stretch as the Rockets recorded the come-from-behind victory.
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