Harden night for Sixers in loss to Rockets

TALK BEFORE last night's 76ers-Houston game was that the Rockets might give Dwight Howard the night off with a sore right knee and with a back-to-back looming tonight in Miami. Sixers coach Brett Brown wanted none of it.

"You'd be lying if you said you wanted to keep playing against NBA All-Stars," he said. "I think that from time to time, with the group that we have, it's not a terrible thing. If you made me say something, I want to play against the best. I want our guys playing against the best. It's real. I hope that Dwight plays for that reason."

Maybe secretly Brown was hoping that Howard's teammate, James Harden, would be the one taking the night off. That would be more understandable as the burly guard went off to the tune of 35 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the Rockets' 104-93 win. Harden, who faced multiple defenders all night, made 17 of his 18 foul shots. In the Rockets' four games, all wins, he has been to the line 54 times, the most by a player in the NBA during that period since Carmelo Anthony had 55 attempts in 2009-10.

"I was thrilled as a team that we shot more free throws than James," kidded Brown. "Thrilled. He's one of these players, and great scorers learn how to do this, he baits you with the ball. He seeks fouls with his body. I think some of them, our guys are hard done by when he torpedoes himself straight into people's chest. You just can't get out of the way. But that's James. He's great at it."

And his team was great at taking and making three-pointers, another thorn that has pierced the side of the Sixers during this young season. The Rockets made six of their first seven from beyond the arc in the first quarter and finished the game 16-for-34. If you add in the foul-shooting differential, they outscored the Sixers 72-49 from three and the foul line combined.

"I feel like we close out the right way, we just have to challenge more shots," said rookie K.J. McDaniels, who played 27 very good minutes, many of them defending Harden. "He's strong, and the fact that he's lefthanded, and he can create a shot for himself, and the way he uses screens, and his decision-making is 100 percent. Guarding him was fun and a challenge for me."

Fun is hardly the word Nerlens Noel would use to describe his battle with Howard. Forced to the center spot with starter Henry Sims limited by an upper-respiratory infection, Noel battled as hard as he could but was obviously a little short in the weapons department. Howard finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks while Noel collected 10 points, six steals, five assists but just one rebound, that coming very late in the game.

Tony Wroten led the Sixers with 20 points, while McDaniels scored 14 and Brandon Davies 13. Alexey Shved scored 12 off the bench while Luc Mbah a Moute added 10.

"That was definitely a new experience, having to play Dwight," Noel said. "I never played somebody that big and I don't think anybody would want to play somebody that big. It's just a learning experience and get a good feel for a player like him and his tendencies and it helps me; more experience and helping me become a better player."

The fourth quarter again proved to be fatal, as the Sixers made just five of their 17 shots as the Rockets made all but three of their nine three-point attempts. A deficit that had gotten as low as three points early in the quarter climbed to as many as 16 before the Sixers dropped to 0-4 on the season.

Blog: ph.ly/Sixerville