Sixers hold off late Rockets surge for 118-113 win

Tonight, the Sixers beat the Houston Rockets, 118-113.

It was a bad win — if ever there was one — for the Sixers. Sure, Ben Simmons was out with an illness, but the Rockets were short Christian Wood, Victor Oladipo and P.J. Tucker. The Sixers led by 29 at one point, and 26 at halftime. There’s no excuse for needing to play Joel Embiid 37 minutes in this game, but they did.

Anyway, here are some quick thoughts about each Sixer who suited up.

Joel Embiid: Joel, who was clearly hindered by his ongoing sore back, had a poor first half overall. Luckily, the Sixers’ role players hit enough 3s — as Houston went cold — for Philly to take a big lead into halftime. Embiid was visibly struggling with his back at the end of the second quarter, but remained in the game. He was especially good down the stretch, netting some huge buckets over Demarcus Cousins to keep the game just out of reach. He finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and one block.

Tobias Harris: Harris continued his solid and efficient scoring. Nice work from him. 24 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal.

Seth Curry: A hot shooting night (especially in the first half) for Seth was a welcome sight. He went 8-of-13 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3 for his 25 points.

Danny Green: Green got hot in the first half and was largely absent from the stat sheet in the second. He made four of his six 3s for 12 points.

Matisse Thybulle: Thybulle’s defense is so, so good. Especially when the Sixers employ some zone defense, as they did throughout this one. He racked up four steals and a block in his surprise start, replacing Simmons.

Furkan Korkmaz: Woof. Kork continues to struggle with his shot, and continues to offer little else on the court at all. He went 1-of-4 from 3.

Tyrese Maxey: Maxey showed some nice burst off the bounce in this one. He only played 12 minutes, but scored 10 points.

Dwight Howard: It was the full Dwight Howard experience. Six rebounds, four turnovers, four fouls, one lost eye contact.

Isaiah Joe: Joe got some surprise run in the first quarter. He’s the team’s quickest trigger from 3; he went 1-of-5 on his tries tonight. Also, by my eye-test, it doesn’t seem like he’s too small to compete, defensively, out there.

Mike Scott: He’s bad. 11 minutes, one shot, 0 points.

Next up, the Sixers welcome future Sixer Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls to the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night.