HOUSTON — Sure, the 76ers are young and loaded with untapped potential, but a 1-9 start to the season isn’t going over so well.
Monday night’s 115-88 loss to the Rockets showed again what happens when the Sixers play a team that can score points in a hurry and has a go-to star player like James Harden, who lit the Sixers up with 23 first-quarter points and finished with 33 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
“We do have some good talented guys and good young guys, but we have enough to be able to compete better than we are,” Sixers guard Gerald Henderson said.
“I don’t really look at our team and say, ‘Alright, we’ll be good down the road because this guy has talent.’ We have enough to compete right now. So we just need to give better effort.”
That young nucleus includes rookies Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric, as well as Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel.
The 7-foot Embiid had a good game against Houston with 13 points and 10 rebounds in his 22:31 minutes. Even in a 27-point loss, Embiid managed a plus-3. But the 6-11 Okafor was 2 of 11 from the field for four points and three rebounds in 21:30 minutes.
Even without the 6-10 Simmons and 6-11 Noel in the lineup, Henderson feels the Sixers should be playing much better basketball. The team has shown it can play well in spurts and has suffered some close losses, but at times the play, and perhaps the effort, has been lacking.
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“You have to stay on top of things in regards to putting in real work. Good day's work, just doing the right thing,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “Work on your defense.
“At times, the ball moves and I’m proud of our guys playing with each other. At other times, we take quick, poor shots. At times, we’re on point with our defensive assignments, and at other times, there’s no communication with who somebody has. It’s part of being 20 years old, it’s part of playing eight games, nine games with each other. As painful as it is, it’s part of their growth and I see good stuff all over the place. We just want to see it more frequently.”
In the loss to the Rockets, the Sixers were out-rebounded 56-38 with the Rockets getting 17 offensive boards. Even though the Rockets committed 18 turnovers to the Sixers' 12, the Sixers' transition defense lacked, allowing many uncontested shots.
Harden was Harden on Monday. Rockets center Clint Capela had 13 rebounds, and the Rockets made 17 of 40 threes for 42.5 percent, while the Sixers were 5 of 22 from beyond the arc (22.7 percent). The Sixers shot 37.8 percent overall.
“We just didn’t really fight,” Henderson said. “We got physically, just effort-wise, dominated. It isn’t about me or anyone staying positive.
“You just have to stick to what we know is going to win. It’s not just about staying positive when there’s bad stuff going on out there. We need to focus in on things we know we need to do better.”