Bev and Jones likely out
76ers suck and I feel bad for Wroten.
Preview: http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=400578419
The Houston Rockets' win last week over the Philadelphia 76ers came by a surprisingly small margin given the disparity between the two teams thus far this season.
Friday night's meeting in Houston is shaping up to be a lot more lopsided with Philadelphia coming off its worst loss in more than 21 years.
Houston (7-1) has posted a league-best average scoring margin of plus-11.1 during its best start since 1995-96. The 76ers (0-8), who are the only winless club and are suffering through their worst start since going 0-15 in 1972-73, are averaging an NBA-worst minus-12.9 margin.
The Rockets tied their smallest margin of victory this season in a 104-93 win at Philadelphia on Nov. 3, however. A similarly close result doesn't appear likely with the 76ers a night removed from a 123-70 loss at Dallas -- their largest margin of defeat since a 149-93 final at Seattle on March 6, 1993.
Philadelphia took a 114-96 loss to Miami on Nov. 1 in the second half of its only back-to-back thus far, committing 25 turnovers.
Houston, which is looking to win an 18th straight home game against the Eastern Conference, comes off Wednesday's 113-101 win over Minnesota in Mexico City. James Harden scored 23 with 10 assists for his third double-double while Dwight Howard had 22 points and 10 rebounds with four blocks after sitting out Saturday's loss to Golden State with the flu.
"We want to be the best at the end of the year," Howard said of the Rockets, whose record trails only Memphis (8-1). "The West is a tough conference, but if we play hard, we can beat anybody. We want to hold the trophy at the end of the year. That's what we talk about every day."
The Rockets, who were 16 of 34 from 3-point range in last week's meeting, went 13 of 28 from beyond the arc Wednesday for their ninth straight game with at least 10 made 3-pointers dating back to last season -- two shy of Dallas' NBA record streak established in 1995-96.
Trevor Ariza scored 24 while going 6 for 9 from deep in last week's matchup and was 8 of 12 with a career-high 40 points in his previous meeting with Philadelphia while with Washington.
Harden scored 35 points in the season series opener and is averaging 30.8 points while shooting 50.0 percent over his last four games against the 76ers. Howard's 14 rebounds were three fewer than the entire Philadelphia starting lineup.
The 76ers avoided the largest loss in franchise history Thursday only by scoring the game's final five points. They committed 28 turnovers -- their most since recording as many in a 96-88 loss at New York on Nov. 9, 2004.
Michael Carter-Williams scored 19 points in his season debut after sitting out to recover from shoulder surgery, but was 6 of 19 with a team-high six turnovers. He had four points on 2-for-11 shooting with 10 assists in his only game versus Houston in 2013-14.
Terrence Jones is expected to miss a fifth straight game for the Rockets with a nerve contusion while Patrick Beverley is likely to sit out for the sixth time in seven contests due to a strained hamstring.
The Rockets haven't dropped a home game against an East team since a 100-91 loss to Indiana on March 27, 2013.
