Sometimes when (checks notes) Jalen Green gets going, there’s just nothing you can do about it.

The Sixers fell to the Houston Rockets 122-115 in overtime on Wednesday night thanks to a 41-point performance from Jalen Green.

After a slow start, Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 39 points, shooting 14 of 34 from the field – 30 of those points coming in the second half. He also finished with nine assists.

Jared McCain had another bad night. He didn’t make a three-pointer and finished with 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Guerschon Yabusele scored 22 points on 7 of 12 shooting.

If things were a little more stable, this could be seen as a hard-fought, undermanned defeat, but there’s just no room for that anymore.

In addition to the injured stars, Caleb Martin was sidelined before the game due to upper back pain.

Here are some thoughts on the buzzer.

First quarter

• It was a typical start for the Sixers as they opened the game 3 of 10 from the field and missed their first four three-pointers of the game. Andre Drummond was added to the starting lineup and got off to a better start compared to what he has shown so far. He grabbed a few offensive rebounds and threw a nice skip pass into the corner for a Yabusele three-pointer.
• For Houston, however, it only took Jalen Green half of the quarter to reach double figures as he had 18 points in the first quarter. The Sixers’ early performance level appeared to be better than Sunday, but Maxey still allowed a wide-open dunk after falling asleep on the baseline.
• Kelly Oubre Jr. was the Sixers’ leading scorer in the first game in terms of both points and efficiency. That’s only concerning considering he hasn’t shot a three-pointer since last Friday. He had nine hits on the first 4-of-8 shooting. The Sixers thought they had cut the lead to eight, but Fred VanVleet hit a half-court heave for 11 points after the first.

Second quarter

• Ricky Council IV checked in at the start of the second minute and brought some life back into the building after a put-back dunk and an offensive foul on Steven Adams. McCain kept going, chasing Reed Sheppard all the way down after he turned him over to contest the fast-break layup and force a missed shot. McCain capped that play by circling the paint and picking up a layup in traffic.

• The Sixers were able to build on this stretch. They held the Rockets from making a field goal for three minutes midway through the quarter. Maxey’s shooting quality improved when he got his teammates involved. He found a roaming Yabusele on the wing and KJ Martin on the block a few times, and that helped him open things up.
• Houston’s timeout helped them regroup and stop the Sixers’ offensive flow. Despite Maxey’s stretch in the middle, he had a rough night at the rim and was blocked from several layups. The Sixers went into halftime trailing by four players.

Third quarter

• The trouble continued in the third quarter, at least defensively for the Sixers, as the Rockets opened the half making 4 of 5 shots from the field and scoring on six of their first eight possessions. They really didn’t make any adjustments to Green, who was able to stop Maxey off the dribble pretty easily.
• The Sixers were able to get some stops and stop Houston from going on a long run. Drummond started by deflecting a pass on the perimeter and creating a quick counterattack. He continued to fight very hard on offense, probably his best performance of the season. It helped that Maxey got going from deep, too. He made three triples in the third period, after just one in the first half.
• Just like in the first half, Council provided quite a boost of energy when they checked back in. He took a (perhaps ill-advised) step-back three-pointer to end the game and grabbed a steal that gave the Sixers free rein to shoot and take the lead on the next possession. However, the lead was short-lived as Yabusele went 1 of 4 from the line in the next two possessions. A corner kick from Aaron Holiday gave the Rockets a six-point lead to end the third period.

Fourth quarter

• The Sixers made a lot of good plays early in the fourth, but couldn’t put them together to cut the lead. Council had a chase down block and some hard-fought offensive rebounds, Maxey had a really tough finish at the rim, but every time Houston had an answer.

• Maxey had his most consistent performance yet, knocking down three straight baskets, but the Sixers still couldn’t come up with the stops on the other end. Aside from having the edge in length and athleticism, it felt like every loose ball fell into the Rockets’ lap early in the fourth.
• After cutting the lead to four, the Sixers looked pretty dead as they turned the ball over on their next two possessions. After falling behind by eight, they fought back with a Rats three-pointer and a Yabu layup to give themselves a chance to cut the deficit to three with 21.5 seconds left. Maxey attempted a rushed three-pointer to get a foul, but he succeeded. With 11.1 seconds left, Houston tied up and went to Sengun in isolation on Drummond, but KJ Martin got by and blocked the jump shot attempt, sending it to OT.

Over time

• It appears the Sixers offense ran out of steam just to get to this point. After Yabusele hit a corner kick three times to open the game, the Sixers went scoreless on their next five possessions, sinking them.
• The Sixers will hit the road again after the holidays as their next game is Saturday in Detroit. They will face Tobias Harris and the Pistons at 7 p.m. ET.