Philadelphia 76ers @ Houston Rockets
Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 8:00 PM ET
Toyota Center, Houston, TX | Game ID: 22501169
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
HOU 35 38 23 17 113PHI 26 30 17 29 102
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Kevin Durant scores 29 as the Rockets beat the 76ers 113-102 for their 8th straight win
HOUSTON -- — Kevin Durant scored 29 points and the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to eight games with a 113-102 win Thursday night over the Philadelphia 76ers , who were missing Joel Embiid after he had an appendectomy.
The 76ers, who are fighting for a playoff spot, will be without Embiid indefinitely. He had surgery in Houston on Thursday after being stricken with appendicitis overnight.
Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson added 19 points each for the Rockets, who have clinched a postseason berth but are contending with Denver and the Lakers for playoff seeding in the West.
Tyrese Maxey scored 23 points for Philadelphia and VJ Edgecombe added 21. The Sixers lost their third straight and dropped into a tie with Charlotte for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Houston led by 23 after three quarters, but Philadelphia used a 16-0 run to get within 101-94 with about five minutes to play. Durant made a 3-pointer after that to end a scoring drought of almost five minutes for the Rockets and Aaron Holiday made a 3 on the next possession to push the lead to 107-94 with four minutes remaining.
Philadelphia scored the next eight points, with the last five from Edgecombe, to get within five. But another 3-pointer by Durant put Houston ahead 110-102 with just over a minute left.
They struggled for most of the game, trailing by nine after the first quarter and 17 by halftime. The Rockets stretched the lead to 96-73 at the end of the third before the Sixers finally got going in the fourth.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
CC C. Capela
JO J. Okogie
JS J. Smith Jr.
KD K. Durant
RS R. Sheppard
TE T. Eason
PHIAB A. Bona
AD A. Drummond
DB D. Barlow
JE J. Edwards
JW J. Walker
KO K. Oubre Jr.
PG P. George
QG Q. Grimes
TM T. Maxey
VE V. Edgecombe
HOU/PHI the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur