Winners of three straight, Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets (26-15) are in the City of Brotherly Love tonight to take on Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers (23-19). Now sitting second in the Southwest Division – just 2.5 games behind Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, the Rockets take the court against a 76ers’ team looking to get right after losing three of its last four.

Kevin Durant and his 25.9 points per game is of course the headliner for the Rockets but all of a sudden sophomore guard Reed Shepherd has stepped up during the winning streak scoring 14, 11, and 21 points shooting 11-23 (47.8%) from beyond the arc. Philadelphia lost 116-110 at home to Devin Booker and the Suns Tuesday night. Rookie V.J. Edgecombe led Philly with 25 points in the loss.

Paul George (knee) and Joel Embiid (ankle) did not play against the Suns. While neither is the player or specifically the defender they were in their respective primes, their size is needed tonight to compete against a Houston team that dominates the boards. Led by Alperen Sengun (9.3 RPG), the Rockets average 49 rebounds per game – 16.1 on the offensive end - and most importantly, are outrebounding their opponents overall by an average of 6.6 boards per game.

This is the first of two meetings this season between the two teams.

Lets take a closer look at the matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.

We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.

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Game Details and How to Watch Live: Rockets at 76ers

• Date: Thursday, January 22, 2026
• Time: 7PM EST
• Site: Xfinity Mobile Arena
• City: Philadelphia, PA
• Network/Streaming: Space City Home Network,NBC Sports Philadelphia

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Game Odds: Rockets at 76ers

The latest odds as of Thursday courtesy of DraftKings:

• Moneyline: Houston Rockets (-125), Philadelphia 76ers (+105)
• Spread: Rockets -1.5
• Total: 220.5 points

This game opened Rockets -2.5 with the Total set at 221.5.

Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule! 

Expected Starting Lineups

Rockets

• PG Amen Thompson
• SG Josh Okogie
• SF Kevin Durant
• PF Jabari Smith
• C Alperen Sengun

76ers

• PG Tyrese Maxey
• SG V.J. Edgecombe
• SF Paul George
• PF Dominick Barlow
• C Joel Embiid

Injury ReportHouston Rockets

Aaron Holiday (back) is questionable for tonight’s game
Steven Adams (ankle) is OUT for tonight’s game
Fred VanVleet (knee) is OUT for tonight’s game

Philadelphia 76ers

Paul George (knee) is questionable for tonight’s game
Joel Embiid (ankle) is probable for tonight’s game

Important stats, trends and insights: Rockets at 76ers

• Philadelphia is just 11-12 at home this season
• Houston is 11-12 on the road this season
• Houston is 20-21 ATS this season
• Philadelphia is 24-18 ATS this season
• The OVER has cashed in 22 of Philly’s 42 games this season (22-20)
• The OVER has cashed in 19 of Houston’s 41 games this season (19-21-1)
• The 76ers lead the all-time series against the Rockets, 78-77

Rotoworld Best Bet

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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
 
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.

Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s Rockets and 76ers’ game:

• Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the 76ers on the Moneyline
• Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the 76ers +1.5
• Total: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Game Total of 220.5

Want even more NBA best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert NBA Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and over/under picks for every game on today’s calendar! 

If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our NBA Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!

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