The Philadelphia 76ers tied the National Basketball Association record of 26 consecutive losses after being hammered 120-98 by the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
Philadelphia join the 2010-2011 Cleveland Cavaliers for the longest single-season losing streak in history with 26 straight defeats.
“We are going through a tough time,” Philadelphia head coach Brett Brown said. “The group will stay together and we will finish this thing out together.”
Photo: AFP
The Sixers can set the NBA record with a loss to the Detroit Pistons today.
Philadelphia have not won since a last-second victory on the road against the Boston Celtics on Jan. 29.
James Harden posted his second career triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Rockets, who have won 11 in a row at home and five-straight overall.
“We did a great job of coming out tonight and taking care of business,” Harden said. “No matter what their record was, we knew they were going to come here and play hard.”
Terrence Jones tallied 20 points, seven rebounds and four steals for Houston, who improved to 29-7 at home this season.
Dwight Howard had 17 points and 13 rebounds in the win.
James Anderson finished with 30 points against his former team for Philadelphia, who never were in this game and have now lost 12 in a row on the road. Anderson was waived by Houston in July last year.
If Sixers coach Brown is worried about their place in history, he is not showing it publicly.
“As this thing has moved along and gained momentum, I want these guys to be proud of themselves,” Brown said. “I want them to hold their heads high and know that they’ve given their best effort.”
“They are doing everything we have asked them to do and [are] continuing to get better. As I said we don’t talk about streaks. We don’t even mention it to them,” he added.
Henry Sims and Thaddeus Young had 18 and 15 points respectively, with Young also grabbing nine rebounds.
Philadelphia tied the game 43-43 on an Anderson layup with just over six minutes left in the second quarter. However, the Rockets closed out the half on a 20-6 surge to take a 63-49 lead.
Houston led by as many as 27 in the third and grabbed a 100-80 lead heading into the fourth.
The Rockets outscored the Sixers by a 20-18 margin in the final frame.
Elsewhere, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 16 rebounds in his return from a back injury as the Trail Blazers beat the Atlanta Hawks 100-85.
Damian Lillard added 21 points for the Trail Blazers, who had lost seven of 10 and were in danger of falling out of the fifth spot in the Western Conference playoff standings.
The Hawks have lost five straight. They lead the Knicks by only 1.5 games in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Jeff Teague, who was scoreless in Wednesday night’s loss at Minnesota, led the Hawks with 22 points.
In Milwaukee, Brandon Knight scored 30 points and Ramon Sessions added 22 as the Bucks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 108-105 to end an eight-game losing streak.
The Bucks swept the season series with the Lakers for the first time since the 2006-2007 season.
Knight scored a career-high 37 points in Milwaukee’s 94-79 victory on Dec. 31 last year in their other meeting.
Khris Middleton added 14 points for Milwaukee, who won for only the 14th time this season.
Jordan Hill had 28 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, while Nick Young added 17 points.
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