Sixers drop third straight, fall to Rockets 132-123 in 2OT

In today's newsletter:

• About last night's 132-123 loss.
• Key stats.
• Stray thoughts.
• Link roundup.

It was just a week ago that the shorthanded Sixers had a nice comeback win against the Atlanta Hawks, with Embiid making clutch plays on both ends of the court and Tobias Harris and Shake Milton chipping in with huge performances to elevate the Sixers to 12-9 on the season, giving a team that had such a rough start to the season a new lease on life.

How quickly things change.

Any and all good will engendered from their successful perseverance through the simultaneous losses of Embiid, Harden and Maxey has quickly evaporated as the Sixers lost their third straight game, this one a 132-123 double overtime loss to the 7-17 Houston Rockets, an opponent who was playing their third game in four nights.

The reasons for the upset are clear, and stand out like a big, red flashing light when you look at the box score.