Sixers return home to host Houston

Currently losers of three straight games, the Philadelphia 76ers must be glad to return to the familiar confines of The Center after a difficult West Coast trip. They have a terrific opportunity to right the ship tonight, facing a Houston Rockets club that has lost six straight and will likely be missing several key players. Already without rising star and ex-Process Sixer Christian Wood due to a severe ankle injury, both Victor Oladipo and Eric Gordon are listed as doubtful for tonight, while everyone’s favorite trade deadline target P.J. Tucker is listed as questionable.

Meanwhile, after being a lead scratch Monday in Utah, Joel Embiid has been upgraded to questionable for tonight’s game. Something tells me a post-injuries DeMarcus Cousins and a cavalcade of wings are not the answer for slowing down the MVP candidate. Between Embiid’s interior dominance and the version of Ben Simmons we saw against the Jazz, you would expect the Sixers to be able to score, despite Houston’s surprising 4th-ranked defensive rating.

With James Harden now in Brooklyn, the bottom has fallen out of the Rockets’ offense. The club sits 25th in the league in offensive rating, despite a solid comeback season for former Wizards John Wall. Wall is averaging 20.0 points and 6.2 assists per game, with a .540 TS% that would rank as the second-best of his career. If Oladipo and Gordon are sidelined, the other Rockets perimeter players are mainly exclusively catch-and-shoot threats. Slow down Wall’s drive-and-kick game, and it should be an easy win.

Daryl Morey revenge game! Let’s go!

Who: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Houston Rockets
When: 7:30pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia; ESPN
Listen: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @Liberty_Ballers

Injuries:

Philadelphia: Shake Milton - out (ankle); Joel Embiid - probable (back)
Houston: Christian Wood - out (ankle); Dante Exum - out (calf); Chris Clemons - out (achilles); Brodric Thomas - out (ankle); Victor Oladipo - doubtful (foot); Eric Gordon - doubtful (groin); P.J. Tucker - questionable (thigh)