The road woes continued for the Rockets in Monday afternoon’s 124-115 loss (box score) to the Philadelphia 76ers (25-13). With the latest defeat, Houston (19-20) is just 1-4 on its season-long road trip of six games and is a ghastly 4-14 away from home this season.
Because of that, Ime Udoka’s Rockets now find themselves below .500 for only the second time since Nov. 6 — and they’re just a half-game ahead of the Lakers (19-21) for No. 10 in the Western Conference standings, which represents the final play-in tournament spot.
In Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee, Sixers star Joel Embiid returned from a recent knee injury and quickly showed why he’s the reigning NBA MVP. In 31 minutes, Embiid dominated with 41 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 12-of-21 overall (57.1%) and making 16-of-17 from the free-throw line (94.1%).
“We have to be physical without fouling,” Udoka said postgame. “We were undisciplined there. We know he’s a guy that’s gonna swipe.”
“The things we talked about, we didn’t really execute on that end, defensively,” Udoka said. “We wanna be physical without fouling and when they were in the bonus, we gave them some easy shots or some questionable calls with the sweep through and all that.”
Rising star Tyrese Maxey added 27 points and 7 assists at point guard while making 6-of-10 from 3-point range (60.0%).
Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, but his five first-quarter turnovers helped put Houston in an early hole that it never came close to digging itself out of.
Houston’s other statistical standouts included:
- Dillon Brooks: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals; 7-of-9 shooting (77.8%), 2-of-3 on 3-pointers (66.7%)
- Jabari Smith Jr.: 13 points, 7 rebounds; 5-of-9 shooting (55.6%)
- Jalen Green: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists; 7-of-16 shooting (43.8%), 1-of-7 on 3-pointers (14.3%), 5-of-7 on free throws (71.4%)
- Cam Whitmore: 14 points, 6 rebounds in 23 minutes; 6-of-12 shooting (50.0%), 2-of-5 on 3-pointers (40.0%)
- Amen Thompson: 14 points, 3 rebounds in 19 minutes; 7-of-8 shooting (87.5%)
Tari Eason remains sidelined by a lower left leg injury, which traces back to a stress reaction in the 2023-24 preseason. His playing status will be re-evaluated when the team returns home later this week.
Eason’s absence has certainly harmed Houston’s increasingly leaky defense. After ranking as high as No. 2 overall in net defensive rating earlier this season, the Rockets are currently at No. 8 among the NBA’s 30 teams, and at No. 19 in nine January games. For the season, Houston remains winless when giving up at least 120 points, and they’ve allowed that in all four losses on this road trip.
Here’s our look at Monday’s highlights and postgame interviews from Philadelphia, along with reaction by media members and fans.
Houston finishes its increasingly miserable road trip on Wednesday at New York (23-17), where tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.
Jan. 15 Rockets-76ers reaction
Dillon Brooks is shooting 43% from 3 for the season. 46% including his stellar FIBA play. The case for starting him at the 2 with Tari and Jabari on the wings is getting louder.
— Nathan Fogg (@NathanFogg1) January 15, 2024
Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore today:
Amen Thompson:
14 PTS (7/8 FG)
3 REB
82.9 TS%Cam Whitmore:
14 PTS (6/12 FG | 2/5 3PT)
5 REB
1 AST
1 STL pic.twitter.com/lqn3f86URj— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) January 15, 2024
Amen Thompson with a beautiful finish and he's got a career high with 14.
Great game from him, with a capital G. Did a bunch of good stuff on both ends.
The rookies are the silver lining of tonight's match for the 2nd straight time.
— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) January 15, 2024
He's significantly better than Jalen and Bari as rookies. He's already a winning player.
I will admit that the offense is behind schedule. The defense is ahead at least. https://t.co/rhaOPQqYxN
— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) January 15, 2024
Ime Udoka said he didn't like what he saw out of the gate as far as physicality and being prepared, which is why he called this early timeout. "Not a great start. Have to come out with a focus to not put us in that hole."
He didn't love the performance by the starters as a whole… https://t.co/4Og3fch5M7
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) January 15, 2024
Checking Embiid with Tate is just disrespectful
We got what we deserved https://t.co/mvGPwzTLAP
— Paulo Alves (@PauloAlvesNBA) January 15, 2024
It took the #Rockets waaaaaaaaaay too long to realize they need to consistently attack Joel Embiid in the PnR.
When he gets to hang back and do nothing it clogs everything up. You have to make him defend.
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) January 15, 2024
Five first quarter turnovers for Alperen Sengun.
He's looked good when they attack Embiid in the PnR, otherwise it's been a pretty awful night so far.
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) January 15, 2024
Look how high Cam Whitmore is on this fast break alleyoop. pic.twitter.com/udq6puKlbo
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) January 15, 2024
I'd rather potentially cost the #Rockets a few games by playing Cam & Amen more, than win a few more with Tate, Bullock, Holiday. Small sacrifice for bigger reward down the road.
— Chris A. White 🐻 (@fyrebear) January 15, 2024
Y'all, this is insane.
The Houston Rockets are down 19 at the half.
Alperen Sengun is a -2. That's it! Just a minus 2! They simply can't survive without him.
— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) January 15, 2024
Looks like Sengun getting some advice on double teams from Embiid.. #Rockets pic.twitter.com/RmrA3SlZjn
— 🚀ƈʟʊȶƈɦ_ƈɨȶʏ713🚀🏆 (@jg_clutch_city) January 15, 2024
Perspective is everything. Yes, we’re about to get blown out by 30 back-to-back, but…
– The #Rockets are well in the hunt for the play-in
– Alperen Şengün is a 21-year old All-Star
– Tari Eason and Jabari Smith are starting caliber players on several NBA teams
– Amen Thompson…— ᵂᴵᴸᴸ (@BiasedHouston) January 15, 2024
Can Dillon and Sengun go for 40 minutes? Because we're gonna need them to in order to have a chance.
Dillon Brooks has played 24 of 29 possible minutes and the Rockets are winning his minutes and losing the game by 17 lmfao
— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) January 15, 2024
DILLON BROOKS GOES COAST-TO-COAST
Join us for #Rockets vs 76ers@HoustonRockets on Space City Home Network pic.twitter.com/haw6b8Ytcv
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) January 15, 2024
Let me list the positives, that will be shorter.
– Dillon Brooks is back and is great. 11 Points, 3 boards, 2 Steals, 4-4 FG. -1 in his 19 minutes, -18 in the 5 minutes he sat.
– Alperen Sengun's perimeter defense on Tobias Harris looked good
– Cam in place of Jalen, we're here— Itamar (@Itamar_17_10) January 15, 2024
Dillon Brooks and Marcus Morris had to be seperated after being tangled up 😳
They were both assessed technical fouls. pic.twitter.com/RcrLGm3X73
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 15, 2024
Dillon Brooks blew a kiss to the crowd after knocking down the triple 😅
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 15, 2024
Loud "We want Boban" chant breaks out. He's bobbing his head along and then acknowledges the crowd.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) January 15, 2024
Rockets on a 13-3 run in the benches cleared portion of the evening. They are within 12 with two minutes left, but still missing free throws. Just missed two more, giving them 13 missed free throws in the game.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) January 15, 2024
Boom. Opponents are literally game planning around Alpi. Paint was extra crowded today and there were moments I saw all 5 76ers players in the paint collapsing on Alpi because they aren’t concerned about other players.
Get Shooters.#Rockets https://t.co/t5qsMnco1E
— Mitty (@MittyRockets) January 15, 2024
This hand gesture by Alpi cuts deep because you can tell it's frustrating him that he's still expected to score when teams are constantly collapsing on him, he's capable of doing it which is insane, but sometimes the trapping and doubling will be too much for him to overcome pic.twitter.com/4kGM5ocYiJ
— Abel (@AbelGe87) January 15, 2024
#Rockets fall to the 76ers 124-115
Ime Udoka & Alperen Sengun with these thoughts after the game@HoustonRockets road trip continues Wednesday against the Knicks pic.twitter.com/pAh565Yf51
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) January 15, 2024
Jalen Green 20 points today to lead the #Rockets in scoring@HoustonRockets on Space City Home Network pic.twitter.com/TWryFNGLXt
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) January 15, 2024
Joel Embiid delivered a stellar performance in his return to the lineup 🔥
41 PTS / 10 REB / 57% FG / W
▪️ He becomes the third player in NBA history to record 16+ consecutive games of 30+ points and 10+ rebounds in a single season pic.twitter.com/QgIDPhSc0V
— NBA (@NBA) January 15, 2024
