James Harden, 76ers Get Ready To Face Houston Rockets

On Monday night, the Philadelphia 76ers welcome the Houston Rockets to the Wells Fargo Center for the second leg of their season series.

When the sides first met in early December, the Rockets came out on top after an enthralling double overtime game, with four of Houston's starters putting up double-digit numbers.

More recently, the Sixers defeated the Brooklyn Nets in what turned out to be an extremely close game. Philadelphia struggled to move their offense, trailing the entire game until the final few minutes after James Harden and Joel Embiid combined for 32 points over the last two quarters.

The game ended with Spencer Dinwiddie draining a buzzer-beater from beyond the arc, which was later called off after he failed to release the shot by less than a second.

Embiid has found his way onto the injury report with left foot soreness again, as well as Shake Milton, who is listed as probable with left-eye soreness, after taking a shot in the game against Brooklyn.

The Rockets come into Monday's match off of three days of rest, with their last game coming on Friday against the Miami Heat. The match was close, with the Rockets losing 95-97 after Miami's Tyler Herro dropped 31 points on the Western Conference side.

Stephen Silas will be without Kevin Porter Jr., who is listed as out with a left foot contusion.

Players to Watch:

76ers: James Harden

James Harden will meet his former team for the second time this season, with The Beard dropping 21 points in their first meeting. Over the previous few games, Harden has been averaging a 20-point ten assist double-double, so he will be looking to keep this trend going on Monday night.

Rockets: Jalen Green

Despite only being a second-year player, Jalen Green has really accelerated on the offensive end for Stephen Silas this year, averaging 22 points on 41 percent shooting. In December, in the Rockets' win against the Sixers, Green dropped a team-high 27 points, so it'll be important for Philadelphia's defense to keep him locked down.

Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.

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