HOUSTON _ Someone else will have to be "that team."
With James Harden leading the way Monday, the Houston Rockets easily avoided being the team that let the 76ers end their road losing streak.
Harden had 33 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as the Rockets rolled to a 115-88 victory at the Toyota Center, extending the Sixers' road losing streak to 20 games dating back to last season.
The 20 losses tied the second-longest road losing streak in franchise history set by the 1987-88 team. The team set a franchise record of 23 straight over two seasons from March 29 to Dec. 23, 2015.
This Sixers' last road win was a 96-87 decision over the Orlando Magic on Jan. 20 at the Amway Center.
The Sixers (1-9) also dropped to 1-46 overall in games played in October and November since beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 22, 2013.
Harden showed why he's arguably the hardest player to defend in the NBA. The four-time NBA all-star had an unthinkable video game-like first quarter.
Harden's 23 points in the quarter were three shy of matching the Sixers' team total. The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder did that by playing nearly perfect basketball.
He made all eight of his field-goal attempts. Harden was 2 for 2 on 3-pointers and 5 of 5 from the foul line. He also had four rebounds and three assists. His only blemish in the quarter was two turnovers.
All this came on day when Harden was named the Western Conference player of the week. He won the award after averaging 27 points, 14.3 assists, and 9.7 rebounds in last week's three Rockets games.
"He's got real skills with the basketball," said Sixers guard Gerald Henderson, who guarded Harden some Monday. "With his size, being 6-6 whatever he is, it's hard to guard a guy. He can get down low put his body on you. You know he's good quickness. And ... he can really shoot."
The Sixers threw a lot of different defenders at Harden.
Robert Covington guarded first. Dario Saric and T.J. McConnell also faced him.
Harden made 12 of 20 shots from the field, including going 4 for 8 on 3-pointers before leaving the game with 6 minutes, 15 seconds left.
Trevor Ariza (17 points), Eric Gordon (16) and reserve Nene (13) were the Rockets' other double-figure scorers. The Rockets attempted 40 three-pointers, making 17 of them (42.5 percent). The Sixers made just 5 of 22 threes (22.7 percent).
Joel Embiid finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, one steal, and six turnovers for the second double-double of his career. Nine of his points came in the first quarter. Reserve Ersan Ilyasova (13 points), reserve Nik Stauskas (12), Saric (11), and Henderson (11) were the Sixers' other double-digit scorers. Reserve center Jahlil Okafor struggled, scoring four points on 2-for-11 shooting. He missed eight straight shots after converting his first attempt of the game.
Monday's contest matched the Sixers against their former associate head coach Mike D'Antoni. He was hired by Jerry Colangelo, the Sixers' former chairman of basketball operations, to work under Brett Brown in December.
The Rockets hired D'Antoni as their head coach in May. He said his time in Philly allowed him to get name back out there in the coaching circles.
"I owe a lot to the Philadelphia organization for doing that and Brett allowing me to come in," said D'Antoni, who had previous head-coaching stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, and Denver Nuggets.
