Philadelphia @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 25, 2017 ) Houston 105, Philadelphia 104

The Philadelphia 76ers are still learning how to execute in the final minute with their talented young roster but seem to be getting better in that regard. The 76ers will try to avenge a recent loss that included some struggles down the stretch when they visit the Houston Rockets on Monday.

Philadelphia had the Rockets on the ropes at home before Eric Gordon drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Houston a 105-104 win on Wednesday, capping a stretch in which the Rockets scored the final nine points of the game. The 76ers got into another tight game to begin the road trip on Saturday but managed to execute better down the stretch and pull out a 112-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks. "It's the evolution of this young team," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown told reporters. "The good news is, we did things we work on in relation to closing out a game." Houston followed up that win over the 76ers with another at the Charlotte Hornets but could not muster the same energy on the second half of a back-to-back and finished off the three-game road trip with a 103-89 loss at Memphis on Saturday.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)

ABOUT THE 76ERS (2-4): Rookie point guard Ben Simmons scored a season-high 23 points on Saturday to go with eight assists and seven rebounds and continues to wow his team. "Look at Ben Simmons' numbers ... how he impacts a game, all over the place," Brown told reporters. "Tonight, he was a four-man, a three-man, a point guard. He switched out on effectively everybody, and just beats up on a stat sheet like we see, that's a (heck) of a game." Simmons is averaging 17.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists while shooting 51.2 percent from the field.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (5-2): Houston shot 37.7 percent from the floor in Saturday's loss as James Harden struggled to 20 points on 6-of-19 shooting. The All-Star guard scored at least 20 points in each of the first seven games and recorded his first triple-double of the campaign at Charlotte on Friday before slumping to eight assists and four rebounds at Memphis. Harden was operating on Saturday without Gordon, who is averaging 24.8 points but was held out due to a stomach illness and is day-to-day.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. 76ers SG JJ Redick (back) sat out Saturday and is day-to-day.

2. Rockets C Clint Capela is leading the NBA in field-goal percentage at 72.9.

3. Houston took the last eight in the series.

PREDICTION: Rockets 110, 76ers 104