Rockets 88, 76ers 87: James Harden capped a 35-point effort with the go-ahead layup with nine seconds left as host Houston survived an ugly affair with winless Philadelphia.

Just one night after suffering through the franchise's worst loss in over 20 years in a 123-70 defeat in Dallas, the Sixers put forth a surprising performance against the 8-1 Rockets before Harden scored the game's final four points to seal the victory. Dwight Howard had 21 points and 16 rebounds while Trevor Ariza scored 13 points for Houston, which shot 37.2 percent and turned the ball over 21 times.

Tony Wroten led Philadelphia with 19 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 51 seconds left. Henry Sims finished with 14 points, Michael Carter-Williams had 13 and Hollis Thompson chipped in 12 for the 76ers, who fell to 0-9 while continuing their worst start since losing the first 15 games in 1972-73.

Following Wroten's triple that capped a 15-5 run by Philadelphia, Harden pulled the Rockets within 87-86 with 35.5 ticks remaining and Carter-Williams turned the ball over with 16.9 seconds remaining. Harden then used a screen by Howard to get to the rim for the decisive hoop and Carter-Williams missed a long jumper just before the horn.

Philadelphia led by as many as 13 points in the first quarter but Harden's free throw in the closing seconds of the second made it 47-47 at the break. Carter-Williams had eight points in a 12-2 surge that helped the 76ers claim a 68-63 lead entering the fourth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: 76ers head coach Brett Brown was given a technical foul for kicking the basketball with 35 seconds left but Harden missed the free throw. ... Rockets F Terrence Jones (leg) missed his fifth straight game and G Patrick Beverley (hamstring) sat for the fourth game in a row. ... Houston was 7-of-34 from 3-point range and 23-of-37 from the line, including a 3-of-12 showing by Howard.