PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Brooks scored 16 of his 19 points
in the second half and the Houston Rockets held off a late surge before handing
the Philadelphia 76ers their 12th straight loss, 96-91 on Friday night.
The 76ers (5-18) are on their longest skid since also
dropping 12 in a row from Nov. 25-Dec. 20, 2006. They traded Allen Iverson near
the end of that losing streak.
Iverson, in his third game back with Philadelphia after
his short retirement, hit a pull-up jumper with 1:06 remaining in the fourth.
But Brooks' step-back jumper ended the Sixers' hopes of winning for the first
time since Nov. 18 against Charlotte.
Andre Iguodala scored 12 of his 24 points in the first
quarter for the 76ers, who fell to 0-8 against Western Conference teams. Iverson
finished with 20 but shot 7 of 18.
The Rockets (13-9) trailed by as many as 17 in the first
quarter before cutting it to three at the end of the first half. Trevor Ariza
followed his missed free throw by stealing a pass from Thaddeus Young and
hitting a jumper as time expired to make it 51-48.
Luis Scola, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds, made a
basket early in the third quarter to give the Rockets their first lead at 52-51.
Elton Brand's basket gave Philadelphia a brief 54-53 lead, but the Rockets then
went on a 13-0 run, keyed by two 3-pointers by Brooks and six points by Ariza.
Houston's reserves outscored the Philadelphia bench 46-6.
Carl Landry had 20 points off the bench.