Lowry fuels Rockets' win over Sixers

HOUSTON - While the 76ers' offense has been woeful of late, there was a hopeful spark as guard Jrue Holiday broke out of his scoring slump with 42 combined points the two games leading up to Wednesday night's contest with the Rockets.

So when Holiday got his second foul early in the first quarter, then quizzically picked up his third early in the second by grabbing a streaking Houston player, it appeared a fifth-straight loss was the way the Sixers would head into the All-Star break.

Villanova and Cardinal Dougherty product Kyle Lowry, whom Sixers coach Doug Collins dubbed a bulldog before the game, had an old-fashioned three-point play with 59 seconds remaining to help seal a 93-87 Rockets' win that dropped the Sixers to 20-14. Lowry finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists

There were some positive signs for the Sixers as rookie Nikola Vucevic played with an urgency he hasn't had in several games and totaled a career-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds. Guard Jodie Meeks shrugged off an 0-for-4 performance from beyond the arc (the team didn't make any of their nine three's) to score 14 points. Lou Williams added 17, while Thaddeus Young had 15.

Another good sign was the Sixers ability to get the foul line as they made 21 of 27. In the previous two games they shot a combined 14-for-18.

But now the team will limp into the break, a much-needed time away for everything.

"I would think that everybody is going to need a break, I really do," said Collins. "We've been on that fast track and I've been exceptionally happy with our guys. I know that we're going through a little bit of a tailspin here right now. I think a combination of a brutal schedule, the fact that we've had some injuries, a lot of things have made it the perfect storm kind of thing. I don't want to get lost the fact that our guys have worked their tails off right now and we're on top of the Atlantic Division. I think if anybody would have said going into the break that we were going to be leading the Atlantic Division would you be happy with that, the answer is yes. But when you've lost some games it's the taste in your mouth that you're feeling right now. I think our guys do need a chance to get away, refresh themselves."

Luis Scola led the Rockets (20-14) with 19 points, and Kevin Martin added 16.

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