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Sixers Notes: Carter-Williams is a work in progress

ORLANDO - Rookie Michael Carter-Williams finished with 26 points Sunday for the 76ers in an 88-80 setback against the Houston Rockets in the Orlando Pro Summer League.

Michael Carter-Williams. (Jeff Chiu/AP file photo)
Michael Carter-Williams. (Jeff Chiu/AP file photo)Read more

ORLANDO - Rookie Michael Carter-Williams finished with 26 points Sunday for the 76ers in an 88-80 setback against the Houston Rockets in the Orlando Pro Summer League.

The first-round draft pick also got a glimpse of the learning curve he faces as he adjusts to the NBA.

On one possession, Carter-Williams was careless with the ball near midcourt and it was stripped away by Houston's Casper Ware.

But a short time later, the point guard took Ware off the dribble and drew a foul on an acrobatic layup before converting the three-point play.

The 6-foot-6, 185-pounder had eight assists and a team-high seven rebounds in the game at the Amway Center's practice gym. But he also had nine turnovers.

"For the first game, I felt I played all right," said Carter-Williams, who made 8 of 23 shots from the field. "I went in there with a lot of confidence. I tried to do everything for my team to win, but we came up short.

"It's a long process and it's a learning experience. So I'm going to take things from today and try to fix them tomorrow."

The former Syracuse star said it took him a few minutes to calm his nerves. It showed. Six of his turnovers came in the first half.

"I will learn quickly and adjust my passes," he said. "I will fix those."

Sixers assistant coach Michael Curry, who is running the summer league team, said that four of Carter-Williams' turnovers were the result of fatigue or carelessness. He said the other turnovers came "because we weren't doing the things we needed to do."

"He's ball-dominant," Curry said. "He's going to have turnovers. We want to get his turnovers down, but we also want him to make plays."

Guard Rodney Williams added 12 points for the Sixers, followed by former Temple standouts Khalif Wyatt (nine) and Micheal Eric (eight).

Wyatt struggled offensively for most of the game before making three of his final four shots. He shot 4 for 15 from the field.

Travis Leslie played only 3 minutes, 18 seconds because of a groin injury. The guard is listed as day-to-day.

Justin Holiday was not at the game. He has been absent since Friday to attend the wedding of his brother, former Sixers star Jrue Holiday, to Lauren Cheney in California. Justin Holiday is scheduled to be back for Monday's 1 p.m. game against the Indiana Pacers.

Not in the market

The first week of free agency is in the books, and the Sixers have not been major players.

"We've been active with a lot of the agents behind the scenes," Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie said. "With a lot of the other teams, as you can imagine, there's a lot of discussions going on this time of year.

"But, yeah, we weren't knocking on any doors on midnight on the first [of July.] That's for sure."

Hinkie would not disclose the names of the players he talked about with agents.

"There's nothing imminent, I'll tell you that," he said.