The Houston Rockets appeared headed for St. Patrick’s Day self destruction on Monday. The Philadelphia 76ers rolled to a 25-point lead in the third quarter. But Houston ends the night tying a franchise record.
The Rockets erased that massive deficit to win 144-137 in overtime over Philly. Houston tied its previous best comeback of 2019 in the process, as noted by Sirius XM NBA radio personality Rob Perez.
The ’19 game came against Texas rival the San Antonio Spurs. Russell Westbrook dropped 31 points while James Harden delivered 28 in that 109-107 victory.
This time, the Rockets escaped from a large first quarter deficit and the 25-point margin at the Toyota Center. And they pulled it off with the 76ers operating without All-Star Paul George.
How Rockets ignited comeback against 76ers
The 76ers first jumped out to a 44-28 lead after the first. Philadelphia even led by 25 twice. Jalen Green first hit a 25-foot step back three-pointer to cut it to 85-63, then Alperen Sengun hit a two-pointer to make it 88-65 in the contest.
The latter eventually sparked the late rally. Sengun came back to throw down a thunderous dunk for the next points. Dillon Brooks then responded to a Quentin Grimes three-pointer with his 26-foot attempt from behind the arc. The gap then became 91-70 in favor of Philly.
Green later nailed his next 25+ foot shot from three-land to slice the lead to 17. Fred VanVleet later joined in on the late scoring party, hitting his 25-footer to dissect the 76ers advantage to 93-79.
Houston kept chipping away despite being down 101-89 with 3:03 left in the third. The Rockets tied it at 102-102 off Green’s two-pointer with 37.2 left, capping the 13-1 run to close the period.
Philadelphia responded with a 10-0 run. Green scored 12 fourth quarter points while Jabari Smith Jr. added six. Houston even overcame a hard VanVleet foul with under 1:20 left. The Rockets outscored Philly 13-6 the rest of the night in OT to cap off the comeback.
Green and Smith dropped 30 apiece, with the latter delivering his mark off the bench. Brooks added 25 while Tari Eason scored 21.
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