INJURY UPDATE: The 76ers announced pregame that James Harden and Jaden Springer were upgraded to AVAILABLE. Georges Niang (right foot soreness) is out.
The next game for the Philadelphia 76ers (12-11) is Monday night on the road against the Houston Rockets (6-17). James Harden, who has missed the last 14 games for the Sixers with a right foot tendon strain, was upgraded to questionable on Sunday evening’s injury report.
"We'll see how I feel in the morning for shootaround and then go from there,” Harden said after practice on Sunday.
The Rockets concluded a four-game road trip Saturday with a 120-101 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry (30 points, game-high 10 assists) and Andrew Wiggins (game-high 36 points) each knocked down eight 3-pointers against them. Houston shot just 3-for-28 (.107) from beyond the arc in the loss, including a 1-for-9 mark from Kevin Porter Jr., who finished with a team-high 20 points.
After dropping consecutive games at Denver, the Rockets downed the Phoenix Suns by one point in the third game of their trip. Twenty-year-old Jalen Green (21.3 ppg) and the 22-year-old Porter Jr. (18.8 ppg) are Houston’s leading scorers.
Tyrese Maxey remains out for the Sixers due to a small fracture in his left foot, and the team last played Friday in Memphis – a 117-109 loss to Ja Morant and the Grizzlies.
Along with Harden, the injury report also listed Georges Niang (right foot soreness) and Jaden Springer (right quad strain) as questionable. Springer has been out since mid-November.
"Boring. Bo-ring,” Harden said about missing time. “I know Tyrese is probably going through it right now. I love to hoop, man. I'll hoop anywhere. I just love to play basketball. So just not being able to hoop and laugh and be around the guys, that was the most boring part of all this. There's only so much rehabbing you can do and then you go home and you're just staring at the wall. I know Tyrese is going through that, but hopefully this injury thing will blow past us and we can just get some really good months of really good Philly basketball."
Harden (2012-2021) and current Sixers teammates Montrezl Harrell (2015-17), Danuel House Jr. (2018-22), and P.J. Tucker (2017-21) all previously played for the Rockets.
“We’ve got a lot of really good memories here, some special moments,” Harden said. “Obviously we're in Philly trying to create even better moments now.”
"I mean, honestly, it's no different. Like, I'm here. I still live here... It's another game, honestly. I've got a lot of family, friends, and people here that are going to come support if I do play [Monday]. It's home."
Philadelphia boasts the No. 4 defensive rating (109.1) in the NBA, and Houston averages the most turnovers (17.8).
Monday is an 8 p.m. ET start for the Sixers and Rockets in Houston.
When We Last Saw Them:
Joel Embiid
Tobias Harris
Shake Milton
De’Anthony Melton
76ers vs. Memphis Grizzlies: Dec. 02, 2022
1 / 5MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - DECEMBER 02: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers takes a shot against Jaren Jackson Jr. #13 of the Memphis Grizzlies during the first half at FedExForum on December 02, 2022 in Memphis, Tennessee.
@Sixers Social:
Quote to Note:
76ers Head Coach Doc Rivers, on players suiting up as visitors where they once played for the home team:
“It’s hard because you want to beat that team, you want to go at that team, they’re your friends. It’s just a lot of different energies than a normal game. For James [Harden], he’s been back once I think – or twice – so that should be gone. We’re trying to win the game. D House — I’m sure he’s been back here as well. At least most of the guys have already been here and back, so it won’t mean as much, but it will always mean something.”