Houston Rockets 117 Philadelphia 76ers 123 OT-Recap

Nov 13, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin (7) is defended by Philadelphia 76ers guard James Anderson (9) and forward Thaddeus Young (21) during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

 Houston Rockets 117 Philadelphia 76ers 123 OT

Playing without James Harden, who sat out due to a sore foot, the Houston Rockets were unable to put the finishing touches on the Philadelphia 76ers. James Anderson scored a career high 36 points, on 6 of 8 shooting from the 3-point line against his former team, and Evan Turner added 21 points to help a young Sixers team close out the win.

For the second straight game, the Rockets played an extra session, and for the 4th straight game, a double-digit 2nd-half lead was blown. Much to the efforts of Jeremy Lin, who made a career high 9 3-pointers en route to a 34 point, 12 assist night, and Dwight Howard, who finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds, the Rockets were able to hold on to a 10 point lead as the 4th quarter began.

The Sixers, who played without rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams, made their late game run with over 5 minutes remaining. A 100-91 Rockets lead was quickly erased as Spencer Hawes and Anderson each made 3’s to cut the lead to 3 with 2:42 remaining. The Sixers then tied the game at 103 on a Tony Wroten driving layup in the lane. Wroten picked a great time to have a career night in place of Carter-Williams, as he recorded a triple-double in his first career start with 18 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds.

Chandler Parsons then split a pair of free throws with under a minute left to give the Rockets a 104-103 lead, and came up with a huge block on the defensive end as James Anderson seemed to have a wide open layup. After Patrick Beverley made 2 free throws to stretch the lead out to 3, Anderson continued his career night, draining a 3 over the outstretched arms of Lin to tie the game once more at 106 with 6 seconds left. Parsons, who added 22 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds, missed a jumper as the time expired.

The Rockets struggles with turnovers and missed free throws throughout the game came back to haunt in the overtime session. 3 turnovers, including 2 on consecutive possessions, helped the Sixers jump out to a 109-106 lead. Howard was then able to convert on an And-1 to tie the game at 109, and Lin hit another 3-pointer on the next offensive trip to take a 1 point lead.

But the Sixers just wouldn’t prevail: Hawes made converted on a tip-in off an Evan Turner miss, and Thaddeus Young stole the ball on a double team of Dwight Howard. Turner then made 4 free throws to push the lead to 119-114 with 13 seconds left. After Lin drained his 9th 3-pointer, Turner and Young each converted a pair of free throws to finish off the win.

While Lin did have a huge night, his 8 turnovers didn’t help the cause. The Rockets turned it over 19 times as a team, shot just 64 percent(16 for 15) from the free throw line, and gave up 27 fast-break points.