Houston @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 27, 2017 ) Houston 123, Philadelphia 118

The Philadelphia 76ers secured their first win on Monday after three loses to start the season as Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid stepped up and showed off the wide range of their talents. The 76ers are still waiting for another prodigious talent, Markelle Fultz, to do the same and hope to have him on the court when they host the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

Fultz was the No. 1 overall pick in last summer's draft but is off to a rocky start in his NBA career, shooting 33 percent from the field without a 3-point attempt as he deals with a right shoulder injury that reportedly required fluid to be drained. "He literally cannot raise up his arms to shoot the basketball," Fultz's agent, Raymond Brothers, told ESPN. "He decided to try and fight through the pain to help the team. He has a great attitude. We are committed to finding a solution to get Markelle back to 100 percent." The Rockets are dealing with an injury to one of their point guards as well in Chris Paul, who went down in the season opener with a knee bruise originally suffered in training camp and is expected to miss at least another week. Paul watched as his teammates failed to reach 100 points for the first time on the young season and suffered their first loss, 98-90 at home to the Memphis Grizzlies, on Monday.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston), NBCS Philadelphia

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (3-1): Houston is struggling from the outside and is shooting just 27.5 percent from 3-point range - 29th in the league entering play Tuesday - while attempting 42.8 3-pointers per game. Star guard James Harden slid back into the point guard role when Paul went down while Eric Gordon was bumped up to the starting lineup, and Gordon is shooting just 25 percent from beyond the arc after improving that number with a 5-of-15 effort in Monday's setback. Starting small forward Trevor Ariza is 3-of-19 from beyond the arc, shooting 22.2 percent overall, and will sit out Wednesday with a foot injury.

ABOUT THE 76ERS (1-3): Simmons missed all of last season with a foot fracture and is making up for lost time by becoming the first rookie to record a triple-double within his first four career games since 1967 when he collected 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in Monday's 97-86 triumph at Detroit. “I’m just glad we won, honestly,” Simmons told reporters. “That means so much more than stats for me. It’s awesome to have a triple-double, but at the same time, it’s even better to have a win, especially with these guys, and a young team like this.” Embiid was on the receiving end of five of those assists and finished with 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting after sitting out Saturday's loss at Toronto.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. 76ers SG JJ Redick is 0-of-5 from 3-point range in the last two games after going 8-of-15 in the first two contests.

2. The Rockets signed veteran PG Isaiah Canaan to a non-guaranteed contract on Tuesday.

3. Houston took the last seven in the series.

PREDICTION: Rockets 116, 76ers 108