Sixers Bell Ringer regular season rankings:

Jared McCain – 7

Paul George – 2

Tyrese Maxey – 2

Guerschon Yabusele – 2

Justin Edwards – 1

Joel Embiid – 1

Kelly Oubre, Jr. – 1

The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Houston Rockets 122-115 in overtime despite 39 points from Tyrese Maxey. It was a good fight, but I don’t believe in moral victories in the NBA, especially for a team that’s now 3-14.

The Sixers were without both Joel Embiid (treatment for a left knee injury) and Paul George (left knee bruise) for this game. Kyle Lowry (right hip strain) and Caleb Martin (upper back pain) were also sidelined.

After struggling to get going and posting a double-digit deficit early on, the Sixers began to wake up in the second period and make it a real game. The Sixers used a cold shooting period to end the Rockets’ first half and fought their way back to within a few points by halftime. The two teams were in an absolute battle throughout the period – scoring back and forth, shot for shot – but the Rockets steadfastly clung to the lead throughout, no matter how close it got.

However, the Sixers really held on with a good Rockets team – even if they were in the second leg of two games.

After a lackluster first half by his standards, Maxey secured the second half with 28 points after halftime and led the Sixers with 39 on the night. Maxey was the main reason (if not the only reason) that the Sixers were still in the fight when the game came to an end.

With only 11 seconds left to play, Maxey managed to commit a foul from beyond the arc and was sent to the line to shoot three with the Sixers trailing by three points. With ice in his veins, Maxey sank all three to tie the contest at 108 each. Unfortunately, the Sixers just seemed to be gassed out after that in overtime. Despite being in the second leg of a back-to-back game that also saw the first game go into overtime, the Rockets easily outlasted the Sixers’ fight.

The Sixers now have two days off before they return to torment us further on Saturday night with a visit to Tobias Harris and the Detroit Pistons.

Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer.

Ricky Council IV: 12 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Council came into the game at the start of the second period because the Sixers were down by double digits and needed a spark of energy – and he certainly provided it. He immediately breathed life into the Philadelphia offense on his first possession on the field with a put-back dunk after a missed triple by Jared McCain. The Sixers started their run before halftime and were only a few points ahead of the Rockets by the break.

Seemingly all over the court, constantly fighting for the boards, Council recorded four points (2-for-2 field goals), seven rebounds and one assist in his 10:29 on the court in the second frame.

Towards the end of the third round he was back on the floor and did it again. On one possession, he hit a step-back triple and grabbed a steal on the defensive end right after, visibly exciting his teammates on the floor and on the bench. He hit a crucially timed triple in the fourth with the Sixers trailing by eight with 1:39 left, starting the push to force the game into overtime.

Council simply provided exactly what the Sixers needed from him tonight: a boost off the bench – a boost in scoring, speed, athleticism, energy and morale. He ended up spending 26:41 on the floor and finished the game with a double-double of 12 points on 5-for-7 field goal shooting (2-for-3 from distance) and 10 rebounds. He also had an assist, a steal and a block.

Guerschon Yabusele: 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Yabusele continues to be one of the Sixers’ better offseason players. He played a lot of minutes tonight, over 43 to be exact, and was a huge offensive boost for the Sixers throughout, even if he kind of fell off defensively in overtime.

At halftime, Yabu alongside Maxey led the Sixers with 11 points each. At that point, Yabusele was 2-2 from three-point range, accounting for two of the Sixers’ only three triples in the first half. They also always seemed to come at the perfect time, like just when the Sixers were on the verge of being down by just a few points and down by double digits.

Yabusele hit another three-pointer and a couple of field goals in the second half of regulation, and even started the overtime great with a three-pointer to give the Sixers the lead… but that was quickly wiped out by poor defense, resulting in A 9-0 lead. Immediately afterwards rockets started. Yabu had a lot of trouble slowing down Sengun.

But hey, let’s look at the positives. Yabusele ranked second behind Maxey in scoring for the Sixers on Wednesday night with 22 points. He shot 7-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-6 from distance – those threes were absolutely crucial as he appeared to be the only Sixer who could sink a shot from distance for parts of this game. He also had seven rebounds, three of which were offensive, two assists, one steal and one block.

Andre Drummond: 6 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Drummond had one of his best games of the season on Wednesday against the Rockets, especially defensively. The 31-year-old was tasked with slowing down Houston’s 22-year-old big man, Alperen Sengun. He did a damn good job. Sengun was limited and suffocated by Drummond’s presence and defense on more than one occasion in this game, including in the final game of regulation time. The Rockets had 11.1 seconds to win the game in regulation time, relying on Sengun in isolation. Drummond stuck with him and forced a fadeaway that KJ Martin was able to block with a play, forcing the game into overtime.

Drummond was also good on the boards early on, so the Sixers likely fell into an even bigger hole before their push late in the second period. He had five rebounds in the first frame, two of which were on offense. Even when his rebounding dipped a bit in the later stages of the game, Drummond remained active and engaged, trying to immediately make up for any missed boards.

Drummond finished this game with six points on 2-for-3 field goal shooting with nine rebounds (three offensive), two assists and two steals. But again, his best performances tonight were his great defensive performance, especially against Sengun, and that doesn’t necessarily show on the stat sheet.

Tyrese Maxey: 39 points, 10 assists, 5 steals, 2 rebounds

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

It wasn’t Maxey’s best first half, aside from a few really great assists, but he absolutely came alive after the break.

After putting up 11 points in the first half, Maxey exploded for 28 points in the final two frames of regulation plus overtime. He’s just found the perfect rhythm of everything that makes him great: confidence with the ball, both making silky-smooth three-point shots and dancing right around Houston defenders (or even right into them) against all odds to end up on the edge.

His heroic efforts in the second half culminated with 11 seconds left in regulation. With the ball in hand and the Sixers trailing by three points, Maxey managed to commit a foul outside the arc. Cool as a cucumber, he sank all three shots from the charity jersey and sent the game into overtime.

From halftime to the end of regulation, Maxey scored 28 points on 9-for-17 field goal shooting and was 5-for-8 (62.5%) from distance. Remember, the Sixers as a team only hit three triples total in the first half. Also worth noting is how active Maxey was in building offense through defense in the second half, with four steals in the final two frames of regulation. Overtime wasn’t great for Maxey in terms of shooting, as he went 0-for-3 from the floor and scored zero points in the final five minutes. However, he assisted on all three of the Sixers’ field goals and secured all seven of the team’s points in overtime.

The only concerning thing is that he had to play over 40 minutes in regulation time and all five in overtime to keep the Sixers afloat. Realistically, given the disarray surrounding the team at the moment, this is the version of Maxey they need if they want to pick up some wins here, but so many minutes night after night could become a problem.

But of course that is a worry for another day.