76ers-Rockets Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Feb 22 2012 1:43AM

The All-Star break may be coming at the right time for the struggling and fatigued Philadelphia 76ers.

The Atlantic Division leaders attempt to enter the break by snapping their longest losing streak of the season and adding to their recent success against the host Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

Philadelphia (20-13) has lost four in a row, largely due to a considerable drop in offensive production. The 76ers have averaged 82.3 points and shot 39.3 percent during their skid after averaging 95.9 points over their first 29 games.

"We're just not competing at our highest level, and we're getting beat," guard Louis Williams said. "Whether you want to blame it on injuries or any of that, we're just not playing at our highest level. We haven't had everybody on the same page in these last four games and we've got to get back to that."

They had one of their worst offensive performances of the season Tuesday, an 89-76 loss in Memphis that included a 10-point first quarter.

Despite that, Philadelphia trailed by just five at halftime but could never take command, due in part to giving up 24 points off turnovers.

"Guys are starting a little tired, a little fatigued. The good thing is we have a break around the corner," forward Thaddeus Young said. "We want to end the stretch of tough games with a win before we go into the (All-Star break)."

Judging by recent results against Houston, the 76ers could have a good chance at that victory. Philadelphia, which leads New York and Boston by four games atop the Atlantic, has won seven of its last eight meetings with the Rockets (19-14) overall, and four in a row at the Toyota Center.

Houston is seeking its third straight victory after a 1-3 slump. The Rockets have played their best at home under first-year coach Kevin McHale, going 13-4.

"We've showed some toughness, showed some fight," McHale said. "We've got to keep improving. We've got to get better defensively. We've got to get better spacing on offense. We've got to get better every day that we're together."

Kyle Lowry's 24 points, including two free throws with six seconds left, helped Houston prevail 97-93 against visiting Memphis on Monday.

Lowry scored a career-high 36 points and shot 15 of 18 at home against Philadelphia last February, but the Rockets fell 114-105.

Jrue Holiday had 20 points in that contest to lead seven 76ers in double figures. One of those players, forward Elton Brand, was scratched before Tuesday's game because of a sprained right thumb.

Holiday, who has reached 20 points only six times this season but has done so in each of the last two games, averaged a team-best 22.0 against Houston in 2010-11 while shooting 69.6 percent.

Young shot 60.6 percent and totaled 41 points in last season's two game series.

Lowry made 11 of 17 3-point attempts against the 76ers in 2010-11.

Scola, Lowry lead Rockets past Sixers 93-87

By CHRIS DUNCAN
Posted Feb 22 2012 11:44PM

HOUSTON (AP) Kyle Lowry had a scraped right forearm, a sore right ankle and a smile on his face after the Houston Rockets pulled out a grinding victory over his hometown team on Wednesday night.

Lowry scored 13 points and converted two crucial three point-plays in the final two minutes of the Rockets' 93-87 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Houston's third straight victory.

The Philly native and former Villanova star took hard shots on both drives, but the points turned out to be the margin of victory in both teams' final game before the All-Star break.

"I hit the floor a few times but it doesn't matter, we got the win," said Lowry, who briefly left in the first quarter after spraining his right ankle.

Luis Scola had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Kevin Martin scored 16 points for Houston, which snapped a four-game home-court losing streak to Philadelphia.

The Rockets head into the break at 20-14, and in much better shape than last season, when they were five games under .500 at All-Star weekend.

"I'm never going to say we're overachieving, or underachieving," Lowry said. "I think we're a good team, and I think we're going where we're supposed to be going."

The 76ers, meanwhile, are limping into the break on a five-game losing streak, and their top two rebounders - Spencer Hawes (left Achilles strain) and Elton Brand (right thumb sprain) are out indefinitely.

"I would say that we'd be happy to be where we are now, when the season started," Andre Iguodala said. "We put ourselves in position to be one of the top teams in our division. We are where we want to be, but not playing the way we want to now. Every team is going through tough stretches like this."

Nikola Vucevic scored a career-high 18 points and Thaddeus Young had 15 for the 76ers, who lost for only the second time in their past nine meetings with Houston.

Philly was held without a 3-pointer for the first time this season, missing all nine attempts. The Rockets went 5 for 18 from 3-point range, with all but one of the makes coming in the second half.

The lead changed hands five times in the final five minutes before Lowry drove into Vucevic for a layup, drew the foul and made the free throw for an 86-84 lead.

Louis Williams made a free throw with 1:38 remaining, but Lowry then converted another three-point play, drawing a foul on Young this time, with 59 seconds left to make it 89-85.

Williams slipped on the baseline in front of the Houston bench, the 76ers' 13th turnover, and the Rockets hit their free throws in the last minute to preserve the victory.

"Good thing we won," Martin said. "That would've been a bad loss for us. We played with a little bit of fire."

Lowry also had eight rebounds and Chandler Parsons scored 12 points for the Rockets. Williams scored 17 points for the 76ers.

Both teams shot poorly early, and neither had scored 10 points midway through the first quarter. Lowry left four minutes into the game after stepping on Scola's foot, and he limped to the locker room with athletics trainer Keith Jones.

Houston found its shooting touch first and took a 19-16 lead. Lowry returned to the bench with Jones in the last minute of the quarter, and was back on the floor for the start of the second.

The Rockets picked up the offensive pace in the third quarter, stretching the lead to eight points. The 76ers attacked Houston's small lineup inside, answering with a 10-0 run that gave them a 56-54 lead.

Houston went cold late in the third quarter, and mustered only 16 points on 7-for-17 shooting. The 76ers scored 14 of their 24 third-quarter points in the paint and led 65-61 heading to the fourth.

Martin swished back-to-back 3-pointers near the nine-minute mark to keep Houston within three. After Thaddeus Young scored inside, Martin hit another 3 and Patrick Patterson scored to tie it at 75-all.

Notes: The Rockets have won 24 consecutive games when holding their opponent to less than 90 points. ... Lowry missed his first free-throw attempt, after making his previous 25. ... The 76ers dropped to 7-2 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season. ... Philly coach Doug Collins couldn't give a timetable for Hawes' return from a left Achilles strain. Collins said Hawes will visit a doctor in Los Angeles during the All-Star break and wear a protective boot.

Notebook: Rockets 93, Sixers 87

Posted Thursday February 23, 2012 12:00AM

By Matt Miller, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: No NBA team may be looking forward to the All-Star break more than the Philadelphia 76ers.

Luis Scola posted a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Kevin Martin scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets took advantage of another dismal offensive outing by the Sixers to claim a 93-87 victory on Wednesday at Toyota Center.

Rookie Nikola Vucevic poured in a career-high 18 points and grabbed eight boards to pace Philadelphia's attack, while Lou Williams added 17 points and six rebounds.

Philadelphia (20-14) has limped to the season's midway point, scoring an average of only 83.2 points on 39.5 percent (169-for-428) shooting in five consecutive defeats. The Rockets (20-14), meanwhile, will enter the All-Star break winners of four of their last five contests. Wednesday's victory put Houston six games above .500 for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign, when Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming were still on the roster.

QUOTABLE: "I can always tell when our offensive efficiency is not good. ... There's no continuity in what we're doing. We're doing so much dribbling, and that's not when we're good. We're good when we're moving the ball side to side."
-- Sixers coach Doug Collins on his team's offensive funk

THE STAT: As in nearly all tightly contested games, free-throw shooting down the stretch was critical. Houston delivered in the final period of this game, shooting 9-for-10 at the charity stripe. The Rockets have nailed 18 of 19 free-throw attempts (94.7 percent) in the fourth quarters of their last two games -- both of which were decided by six points or less.

TURNING POINT: Philadelphia had the ball trailing 86-85 with less than 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter when Kyle Lowry (13 points, eight rebounds, five assists) stood his ground and drew a charge on forward Thaddeus Young. Young tried to utilize his strength advantage by posting up Lowry, but he lowered his shoulder too forcefully and turned the ball over. The officials sided with Lowry on the Rockets' next possession, as well. The 6-foot point guard waited for a screen and knifed into the Philadelphia interior before crashing into Young, who was whistled for a blocking foul as Lowry's layup fell through the hoop.

QUOTABLE II: "Our bigs have been setting screens a little bit lower so I can turn the corner, and I just get the angle. Once I got the angle, just get on the board and make a shot. My teammates are always going to count on me in the fourth quarter."
-- Lowry on his "and-one" drive against Young and other crucial plays he made down the stretch

HOT: Scola posted his third double-double of the season and drained eight of 16 field-goal attempts Wednesday. The 6-foot-9 forward from Argentina has averaged 18.3 points on 58.1 percent (25-for-43) shooting to go with 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists over his last three games.

NOT: Second-year swingman Evan Turner, who scored only two points on 1-for-6 shooting Wednesday, has averaged only 4.0 points on 25.5 percent (12-for-47) shooting over his last seven games.

GOOD MOVE: Houston swarmed the one Philadelphia player who had produced consistent offense over the last couple of games, Jrue Holiday. Frustrated by solid defensive rotations, ball pressure and the occasional trap, Holiday finished Wednesday's contest with only six points on 3-for-9 shooting after posting back-to-back 20-plus-point performances.

BAD MOVE: Just when the Rockets appeared to be gaining complete control of the game, their floor general's decisions allowed Philadelphia to battle back. Houston went on a 13-4 run to grab its first double-digit lead of the game during the closing minutes of the first half, but Lowry single-handedly killed the Rockets' momentum with three poor decisions. With a deficit of eight points, the Sixers started a fast break and Lowry bailed out of the lane instead of taking a charge. On the other end of the court, Lowry threw an awful pass right into the hands of Iguodala, leading to more Philadelphia points. The next Houston possession ended after Lowry jacked up a deep 3-pointer that bounced high off the rim and into Williams' hands.

NOTABLE: The Sixers played without starting forward Elton Brand (sprained right thumb) for the second straight game. Collins said he is hopeful that Brand can return to Philadelphia's lineup after the All-Star break. ... Lowry left the game during the first quarter after spraining his right ankle, but he returned at the beginning of the second and finished the game. ... The Rockets finished with a season-low four offensive rebounds. ... Houston improved to 12-0 this season when limiting opponents to less than 90 points and 11-0 when holding its opponent to worse than 42.4 percent shooting from the field. ... The Rockets won for only the second time in 14 tries when trailing after three quarters, thanks in part to pouring in a season-high 32 points in the final period. ... The Sixers lost in Houston for the first time since the 2006-07 season. ... Philadelphia fell to 0-11 when it does not hand out more assists than its opponent. ... The Sixers lost on the second night of a back-to-back set for only the second time in nine occasions this season. ... Philadelphia shot 0-for-9 from 3-point range.

UP NEXT: For the Sixers, Tuesday @ Detroit, Wednesday vs. Oklahoma City, March 2 vs. Golden State (ESPN). For the Rockets, Tuesday vs. Toronto, Wednesday @ Utah, March 2 vs. Denver.

• 76ers: Brackins
• Rockets: Hill, Williams

• 76ers: --
• Rockets: --

• Lead Changes: 14
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #71 Rodney Mott, #12 Violet Palmer
• Attendance: 12820
• Duration: 2:13