PHILADELPHIA -- While Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon doesn't remember his previous buzzer-beater, he does know that he has had many of them, and that his mindset in potential game-winning situations is always the same.

"You've just got to be prepared to try and knock down shots like that," he said. "You miss it, you miss it."

Gordon nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner at the buzzer Wednesday night, lifting the Rockets to a 105-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

"We needed this," Gordon said. "A lot of guys are out. We needed a spark. We needed this game. For us to be a good team, we have to win in games like this."

Gordon, who led the Rockets with 29 points, has been starting with Chris Paul out of the lineup with a knee injury. Coach Mike D'Antoni said that on the decisive play, Gordon was supposed to cut backdoor, but when that didn't work, Gordon floated to the corner.

"Eric did a great job of doing what he had to do," D'Antoni said, "and again it comes around as that's luck, and he is fortunate. We were fortunate it just goes like that."

James Harden added 27 points and 13 assists for Houston, which scored the game's last nine points to improve to 4-1. Clint Capela contributed 16 points, a career-high 20 rebounds and four blocked shots.

J.J. Redick poured in 22 points to pace the Sixers, who did not score in the final 3:05.

"I think that we let one slip," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said after this team fell to 1-4. "I feel that the growth that we're going to make to be in the game, have a chance to win a game against a really good Houston team isn't good enough. Ultimately, we do have to be able to walk those games down with a little bit more authority."

Joel Embiid added 21 points and Robert Covington chipped in 20 for Philadelphia, which was without guard Markelle Fultz, the top overall pick in this year's draft. The team announced earlier in the day that Fultz would sit out at least the next three games with a sore right shoulder, then be re-evaluated next Tuesday.

With Philadelphia up 104-96, Gordon made a free throw to start the decisive run. Capela then converted Harden's lob, and Harden's three-point play with 30.4 seconds remaining cut the gap to 104-102.

After a 24-second violation by the Sixers, Gordon took a pass from Harden in the left corner, then saw the 7-foot-2 Embiid flying at him.

"When I glanced at the clock," Gordon said, "I knew I had probably one dribble left and that was the only way (to get a shot up). If I would have shot it just straight up, he would have blocked it."

He took that dribble, moved a step to his right, fired and connected.

Embiid scored nine points as the Sixers built a 33-31 first-quarter lead, but he drew his third foul in the final minute of the period and did not play the rest of the half.

The Sixers nonetheless extended their lead to 44-33 early in the second quarter, and were up 50-40 before the Rockets finished the half on a 16-4 run. Harden's 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left gave them their first advantage of the night at 56-54.

Harden had 15 points and nine assists at that point, while Ryan Anderson had 11 and Capela generated 10 points and 12 rebounds before the break.

Covington topped the Sixers with 13 first-half points.

Philadelphia rattled off 11 consecutive points with Embiid on the bench midway through the third quarter to reclaim the advantage at 69-63, but by the end of the period, Houston narrowed the gap to 80-79.

NOTES: Philadelphia G/F Ben Simmons had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. ... G James Harden committed eight of the Rockets' 19 turnovers. ... Sixers G T.J. McConnell, who often drew the defensive assignment against Harden, had six points, nine assists, five rebounds and six steals off the bench. Philadelphia coach Brett Brown called McConnell's effort "inspirational, game-changing stuff." ... Before the game, Brown said he was unsure how many games G Markelle Fultz might miss, but described it as a "deep breath" for the rookie, who was averaging six points on 33 percent shooting through four games. Fultz's agent, Raymond Brothers, first told ESPN that Fultz had fluid drained from the shoulder, but later told the same outlet that Fultz received a cortisone shot on Oct. 5. ... Rockets C Nene sat out with a sore left Achilles tendon.