The Sixers have slowly improved their effort, but the NBA’s second-worst team has a long way to go

Was Wednesday night truly a start in the right direction? Or was it just a moral victory in a season in which actual victories are hard to come by?

Whatever the case, Tyrese Maxey was in good spirits after the 76ers’ 122-115 overtime setback to the Houston Rockets at the Wells Fargo Center.

“I talked about it for the last two days,” he said of the Sixers‘ improved effort. “We showed it against Brooklyn, then we laid down and let the Clippers steamroll us. I said before the game, ‘No matter what the circumstance is, no matter what the score is, no matter what the situation is, we’re going to play until zero is on the clock.’

“That’s where we have to start at. If we’re going to turn this thing around, we have to start there. I think everybody did that tonight.”

The All-Star point guard was correct.

» READ MORE: Tyrese Maxey’s 39 points not enough in Sixers’ 122-115 overtime loss to Houston Rockets

Maxey’s 39 points were his second-highest scoring performance of the season. Maxey also finished with a season-high 10 assists to go with a career-high five steals, joining Hall of Famers Allen Iverson (four times) and George McGinnis (one) as the only Sixers to record at least 35 points, 10 assists and five steals.

Maxey was also correct about Ricky Council IV playing “amazing” basketball in a reserve role. The seldom-used second-year swingman posted his second career double-double with a season-high 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting and tied a career-high 10 rebounds. And Guerschon Yabusele finished with a career-high 22 points while making 4 of 6 three-pointers in his fourth start. He’s shooting 60% (12-for-20) on three-pointers over his last four games. That’s tied for second among players with at least 10 three-point attempts during that stretch.

And …

KJ [Martin, who had eight points and two blocks] came in and was really good and then everybody who played was amazing,” Maxey said. “It sucks to lose. I absolutely hate losing. But that’s a step in the right direction.”

However, the Sixers still have the NBA’s second-worst record at 3-14. They’ve lost seven of their last eight games. And with one game left in November, the Sixers are guaranteed to head into December with fewer than five victories.

The last time that happened was the 2016-17 season. That squad took a 4-14 record into December. They didn’t win their fifth game until Dec. 8, 2016, and ended the season with a 28-54 record.

And just like this season, Joel Embiid was dealing with an ailing left knee in 2016.

He played in just 31 games that season because of a torn meniscus and a bone bruise in the knee. The Sixers decided to shut him down for the remainder of the season on March 1, 2017, after Embiid had already missed 15 consecutive games and 18 of 19 after suffering the injury on Jan. 20, 2017.

» READ MORE: Sixers takeaways: Tyrese Maxey needs easy buckets, increased intensity and more

Embiid suffered the same injury last season and is dealing with the aftereffects. He played in just 39 games during that campaign. The 2023 NBA MVP missed the entire preseason and the first six games of this season because of left knee injury management. Then he served a three-game suspension before making his debut against the New York Knicks on Nov. 12. He missed the next night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers for load management. Embiid played in road games against the Orlando Magic (Nov. 15), Miami Heat (Nov. 18), and Memphis Grizzlies (Nov. 20), but has since been shut down because of knee swelling.

Coach Nick Nurse said the Sixers don’t know what to expect from Embiid for the remainder of the season.

“He needs to play again to see how it reacts,” Nurse said. “That’s kind of where we are at right now. Again, if it gets to a point where he can play and then the recovery, the process of when he can go again, and all that kind of stuff.”

Paul George, the Sixers’ top free-agent acquisition, has only played in eight games this season after hyperextending his left knee and suffering a bone bruise twice over a 37-day span.

As competitive as Maxey and Co. were Wednesday, they missed the presence of their best two players — especially while struggling to make shots and to defend Rockets center Alperen Şengün in overtime. He scored 11 of his 22 points in the extra period, while the Sixers shot 3 of 11.

» READ MORE: For second straight game, rookie Jared McCain’s shooting struggles carry over in Sixers’ loss to Rockets

“For us, we have to be able to put together a 48, in this case, 53-minute game,” Maxey said. “It has to be sustainable. We’re playing good quarters, we’re playing good segments, and then we have a 4-minute segment where we just go downhill. We can’t recover from that, but that’s the difference.”

Poor stretches have been the Sixers’ Achilles’ heel all season.

So even though they took a step in the right direction, the Sixers still have a lot of work to do.

They’ll get an opportunity to work on more weak spots Saturday, when they face the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m., NBCSP+). The Sixers also will look to avenge their 105-95 setback to the Pistons (8-12) on Oct. 30 at the Wells Fargo Center.

“Nobody wants to lose, especially in the position we’re in,” Council said. “But it was positive energy in the locker room after everybody dispersed. We all played hard. Everybody knows, the fans and everybody thinks that as well. So we have to keep on doing that so wins will follow.”