The Houston Rockets visited Vivint Arena on Friday and, with no surprise at all, lost to the Utah Jazz 114-99. That was the Rockets' 15th loss in a row, matching the second-longest franchise record. The only time the team did worse than that was in 1968 when they were still known as the San Diego Rockets. That record was 17.

All five starting players of the Jazz scored double-digit points, led by 28 of Donovan Mitchell, who got 20 in the first half. Both Rudy Gobert and Royce O'Neal had a double-double. Jordan Clarkson contributed 15 off the bench. The whole team buried 15 triples at a 3-point rate of 37.5 percent, which is not even their average performance in this area.

Despite that, the Rockets did not stand much chance in the game, not because they were not working hard enough, but simply for their broken squad. Having played 37 games so far this season, the Rockets saw a total of 16 players miss 148 games because of injury. As a result, they could only send nine guys to the floor on Friday. Their salaries together were less than $10 million.

The last time the Rockets suffered 15 consecutive losses happened in November and December 2001. After that season, they received the No. 1 overall pick and selected Yao Ming in the NBA Draft.

Other games on Friday (away teams come first):

Philadelphia 76ers 127-101 Washington Wizards

A big win on the road could not make up for the pain of the 76ers, which saw their most important player Joel Embiid leave the court because of injury after playing 20 minutes.

Embiid hyperextended his left knee after finishing a dunk in the third quarter, according to ESPN. Coach Doc Rivers said he will have an MRI for further diagnosis. Before Embiid returned to the locker room, he already went 8-11 to drop 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Furkan Korkmaz scored 12 points for the 76ers in the last quarter. He and Shake Milton together contributed 36 points off the bench to help their team win to stay on top in the Eastern Conference.

Denver Nuggets 103-102 Memphis Grizzlies

If you are wondering why Friday's game was so tough for the Nuggets, Jamal Murray had some answers with his 1-14 field goal shooting. He earned no free throw either, and the only shot Murray made was a 3-pointer to get three points and five rebounds.

Fortunately for the Nuggets, Michael Porter Jr. and Will Barton had 21 points each to fill in Murray's offensive role. Moreover, they had Nikola Jokic, who not only put down 28 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists he also contested Ja Morant's last shot, making sure that the Nuggets leave FedExForum with the fifth win in a row.

Cleveland Cavaliers 82-116 New Orleans Pelicans

Since the Cavaliers decided to trade Andre Drummond, they have ruled the four-time rebounding leader out of each of their games.

However, that did not justify their 70-33 trail in rebounds at Smoothie Kings Center on Friday. Jarrett Allen grabbed seven rebounds which were already the most of the Cavaliers. By contrast, Steven Adams alone got 17 rebounds, more than what the Cavaliers' starting-lineup had combined (14).

The huge advantage in rebounds also led to the same lead in points in the paint (66-40) and second-chance points (19-6) for the Pelicans. Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson played 25 and 17 minutes respectively before scoring 51 points together.

Miami Heat 101-90 Chicago Bulls

The Heat are going on the correct track as they achieved their third straight win and made the top 4 in the East. Jimmy Butler had 28 points and eight assists. He and Zach Lavine carried the Heat and Bulls respectively in the first three quarters in a quiet close game (70-68)

Q4 belonged to Goran Dragic, who dropped 20 points, draining three triples. Butler is what makes the Heat a playoff squad, and Dragic shoulders the job of lifting the team to the Conference Finals level.

Orlando Magic 77-104 San Antonio Spurs

DeMar DeRozan sat on Friday's home game, but the Spurs still pocketed a big win at AT&T Center. Six of their guys reached double-digit points, including Rudy Gay (19) and Patty Mills (13) off the bench.

By contrast, the Magic only had two scores over 10 points. Dwayne Bacon went 5-16 to get 15 points, and Nikola Vucevic was 12-18 to get court-high 26 points and nine rebounds. If the Magic continue to play like this for a couple of weeks, they can kiss playoffs goodbye.

Indiana Pacers 100-105 Los Angeles Lakers

The two teams share quite a few things in common. Neither came to the floor with a complete lineup – the Lakers did not have Anthony Davis or Marc Gasol; the Pacers lacked T.J. Warren and Caris LeVert. Both sides rely more on their defense as the key to win. Neither can be trusted with their outside shooting.

That's why the purple and gold spent three quarters trying to catch up while the Pacers established and supported their lead with Malcolm Brogdon's 3-point shooting (4-5 in the first half). Nonetheless, when the Pacers kept missing from downtown in the second half (4-22), they could only watch the Lakers nibble at their lead point by point.

And then there's Kyle Kuzma. Having gone 2-7 to score only nine points in the first three quarters, the 25-year-old stood out to take over the offensive burden from LeBron James in Q4. He went 6-8 in field goals and 2-3 in triples to drop 15 points, making the biggest contribution to the Lakers' comeback.

Despite the valuable close win, the Lakers received bad news in this game. In the second quarter, Alex Caruso slipped and fell to the ground, suffering a head contusion. He went back to the locker room and never returned. There's no telling if or how long he will miss the games, but the team will definitely miss him because Horton Tucker can't fill Caruso's position.