For offensive against the Rockets, the 76ers turn to Tobias Harris.For offensive against the Rockets, the 76ers turn to Tobias Harris..

Joel Embiid, the current Most Valuable Player, is still sidelined due to a knee injury, so Tobias Harris led the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. Two points short of his career high, he scored a season-high 37 points to help the Sixers defeat the Sacramento Kings 112-93. With Embiid out of the picture, the Sixers are 3-7. They will visit the Houston Rockets on Monday afternoon, and they will be counting on Harris to provide leadership and consistency.

“Like I always say, he does it in a lot of ways,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said of Harris after Friday’s game. “I believed he underwent some change. I believed that he received some touches around the hoop from some excellent screeners. He obviously made a significant amount of one-on-one buckets as well. He has several methods to score, and I believe he employed them all this evening.” In recognition of Harris’s effort, the sold-out home crowd erupted in “To-bi, To-bi, To-bi.” “It was fun hearing the crowd chant,” he stated. To make up for Embiid’s absence, Tyrese Maxey scored 21 points, Nicolas Batum scored 14, and Mo Bamba contributed 11 points along with four blocked shots. The Sixers’ defense was just as strong against Sacramento as

The Rockets will try to bounce back after losing badly to the Boston Celtics 145-113 away on the road on Saturday. With 22 points and 10 rebounds, Alperen Sengun and Cam Whitmore led the Rockets. After missing the previous nine games due to an oblique injury, Dillon Brooks returned and scored 12 points. The Rockets have lost three of their last four games, but they still have a 19-19 record going into Philadelphia. Remember that the Rockets ended the previous season with just 22 victories. Nevertheless, the Celtics outclassed the Rockets in every facet.

“You gotta figure out with every single one of our players, defense comes first and the offense comes later,” Brooks stated. “Right now in this week we’re not focused on that end.” Brooks was shown to be frustrated by the ease with which the Celtics were able to score after he received his eighth technical foul of the year. “Try to will it out of players because defense is what keeps you in games,” Brooks stated. “It’s what makes you play and ultimately is what wins your championships.” Ime Udoka, the coach of the Rockets, went back to Boston to play his old squad.

Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, while Aylen Brown scored a scorching 32. Stopping the two All-Stars was a very tough challenge. Considering that the Celtics shot 53.7 percent from the field, Udoka expressed his dissatisfaction with the defensive pressure applied to them. “I would have loved for people to guard them (the Celtics) the way we guarded them tonight when I was here,” he stated.