Houston Rockets vs. Philadelphia 76ers game preview

The city of Philadelphia is out for blood.

In the last 100 days, Philadelphia sports teams have blown:

• A 3-2 lead late into added time of extra time in the MLS Cup Final against Los Angeles FC
• A 2-1 series lead over the Houston Astros in the World Series by losing the next three games
• A 24-14 lead at halftime of the Super Bowl

So the Philadelphia 76ers fans are going to be pretty riled up tonight ready to watch their team feast on an inexperienced Houston Rockets squad.

For their part, the Rockets have now lost two games by making poor decisions in the final second. It’s been great for the tank, but bad for the collective psyche of Rockets players and fans. The silver lining is that the defense looked great against Miami, and Jabari Smith Jr. showed a lot of confidence late against the Heat even as he was chucking up airballs. That’s progress that we’d like to see. I want Jabari to want these moments. That’s more important than him actually making the shots at this point.

Obviously, the Sixers sport MVP candidate Joel Embiid and former MVP and Rocket James Harden. Much has been made of a potential Harden-Rockets reunion next season, and I’d like to hear what you all think.

Tip-off is at 6pm CT on AT&T SportsNet Southwest