Turner and Wayns limp away as Sixers lose fifth straight

HOUSTON - The losses - of games and of players - continue to mount for the 76ers, who turned in another defenseless performance Wednesday night at the Toyota Center on the way to their worst loss of the season, a 125-103 drubbing by the Houston Rockets.

With the loss, the Sixers dropped to 12-14. Houston improved to 13-12 behind a game-high 33 points from James Harden. Reserve Nick Young led the Sixers with 21 points. Dorell Wright added 20.

The Rockets scored the most points against a Doug Collins-coached team since Nov. 28, 1988. That night, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Collins' Chicago Bulls, 128-123, despite 52 points from Michael Jordan.

The Sixers played their fourth consecutive game without point guard Jrue Holiday (sprained left foot). Then Evan Turner, who has been arguably the team's second-best player this season, limped into the team's dressing room in the third quarter and never returned to the game after suffering a mildly sprained left ankle.

"I'm going to be OK," said Turner, who finished with six points. "But this is tough right now. I am going to try and get back out there on Friday [at home against Atlanta]. But it's tough for us right now. These games keep coming and coming at us, and it seems like we are having a hard time every night."

Rookie Maalik Wayns, who made his first start, suffered a right foot injury. The severity was not known late Wednesday, but Wayns was able to walk unassisted after the game.

"At the end of the day when you put a loss behind your name, they don't ask you who you had in the game," Collins said. "That's the way it works."

The Sixers' five-game losing streak is the longest of the season and their longest since they dropped five straight last season from Feb. 15 to 22. Coincidentally, the last of those losses happened in Houston.

The Sixers have lost five straight road games, their last win coming at Charlotte on Nov. 30. Eight of their next nine games are on the road, including a seven-game Western Conference trip beginning next week.

With Harden leading the way, Houston led by as many as 13 points in the first quarter. The Rockets made 12 of their first 19 shots.

As of late, the Sixers bear no resemblance to the stout defensive team of recent years. One night after the Sixers let Dallas make 54.2 percent of its shots from the floor, Houston raised that number, making 56 percent. The Rockets scored 69 points after halftime.

"We didn't play any defense," said Sixers forward Thaddeus Young, who finished with 17 points. "Any time we as a team let somebody score 125 points, it means that we didn't play any defense."