Saturday night’s contest between the Houston Rockets and the Philadelphia 76ers saw two teams both looking to end skids.

After ringing in the New Year with a victory over a struggling Lakers team, Philadelphia had been unable to notch another game in the win column, while Houston looked to end its own streak of back-to-back losses. With a little help from a three-day break and poor defense by Houston, it was the Sixers that snapped its five-game losing streak, topping the Rockets, 107-100.

Jrue Holiday put up the first five points for Philadelphia and never looked back, finishing with a game-high 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting. The Sixers led by as much as 14 in the third quarter, but James Harden brought Houston within three with six minutes to go.

But the effort by the guard, who led the Rockets on the night with 29 points and nine rebounds, wasn’t enough as Houston missed its next eight shots to allow Philadelphia to take the win.

Jeremy Lin '10 had a +/- of +8 but failed to be as efficient as his teammates when he was on the court, only sinking two of his 13 shots for seven points. The Rockets struggled from downtown, missing 24 of 32 attempts, including eight consecutive misses in the final frame. Lin clanged all three of his treys while teammate Chandler Parsons netted only one of his seven attempts behind the arc.

With the loss, Houston, which played its fourth game in five days, falls to seventh place in the Western Conference, eight games behind the first-place Thunder.

Friday night’s matchup pitted two teams on almost opposite journeys. The overhauled Houston Rockets came into the season expectation-free after shaking up their starting lineup but got off to a hot start nonetheless.

But the upstarts couldn’t contend with a veteran Celtics team fighting on its home court to redeem itself after a slow start to the season, as Houston fell, 103-91.

The Celtics had to fight for their victory after almost letting a 17-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter. Sparked by a Carlos Delfino three-pointer, Houston went on a 12-0 run to pull within two. However, the Rockets couldn’t keep up their offensive pace, and they were outscored 20-10 to close out the game.

Both teams struggled from the foul line—with Boston never reaching the stripe in the first half—but the Celtics made up for it by knocking down 75 percent of their free throws in the third and fourth quarters, while the Rockets shot only 41.4 percent from the stripe throughout the game.

Lin—largely kept from the paint by a strong Celtics defense—added 12 points behind teammates Harden and Chandler Parsons, who led the team with 24 and 18 points, respectively. The guard was crucial on defense, tallying a team-high three steals and six assists, while adding four defensive rebounds in 36 minutes of play.

In the Celtics’ fifth straight win—their longest winning streak of the season—Paul Pierce led the team with 23 points. Boston also benefited from a deep bench, which outscored the Rockets’ bench by almost 100 percent, adding 40 points to Houston’s 25.

After winning five straight and 10 of 12 before suffering back-to-back losses at the hands of the Hornets and the Celtics, the Rockets will seek to right the ship against the 76ers tomorrow evening.

Two Harvard athletes were named to Business Insider’s list of the 22 most impressive students at Harvard on Tuesday. The list, which features predominantly seniors, includes cancer researchers, business founders, and published writers.

The list recognized alpine skier Rebecca Nadler, who made history last year when she became the first Harvard skier to win a national title. In her years as a Crimson skier, the junior has taken the alpine program to new heights, handing Harvard its first EISA carnival win and becoming the first to attend NCAAs.

In her quest for the title, Nadler edged rival Kate Ryley of the University of Vermont by .38 seconds, cruising to victory in the giant slalom with one of the widest margins in recent NCAA history.

In addition to Nadler, the list highlighted senior running back Treavor Scales, who was also named one of the Crimson’s 15 seniors to meet before they graduate. Scales is best known for his heroics on the field, most recently a 63-yard touchdown run to hand Harvard its sixth straight victory over Yale in November.

Scales’ flashy ending was just another demonstration of what he did for Harvard football his entire career. Scales made the all-conference team four straight years, leading the league in rushing as a senior.

In addition to Scales’ football career, Business Insider focused on the running back’s academic pursuits. In earning a German language citation, the economics concentrator performed in a play last spring for his German Drama and Theater class and is also involved in DAPA.

With the Harvard men’s basketball team tipping off its conference slate against Dartmouth Saturday, The Back Page takes a look at some of the biggest surprises and disappointments both at Harvard and around the Ivy League before the beginning of the conference season.

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You can’t count the Crimson out until the last whistle is blown. On Wednesday, the Harvard men’s hockey team orchestrated one of the finest comebacks in recent memory, coming back from a 5-2 deficit entering the third period to defeat No. 8 Boston University, 6-5, and snap a five-game losing streak.

In light of Harvard’s remarkable upset win, The Back Page takes a look back at some of the most memorable Crimson comebacks of the 21st century—so far.

The Game 2009: Harvard 14, Yale 10

After blanking their opponent for the first three quarters, the Bulldogs were in striking distance of an upset victory. But the Crimson—frustrated by a number of missed opportunities throughout the game—was not prepared to go quietly. With seven minutes left to play, Harvard quarterback Collier Winters found wideout Matt Luft with a 41-yard pass straight down the middle, putting the Crimson on the board and bringing the score to 10-7. Up by three, Yale chose a risky fake punt play on fourth and 22, leading to Harvard gaining possession at the 40. In crunch time, the Crimson would not falter. Winters found wide receiver Chris Lorditch on a 32-yard touchdown toss less than a minute later, cementing Harvard’s eighth win over Yale in nine years.

Baseball 2002: Harvard 13, Brown 12

Down 9-2 in the fifth inning, the game was all but over. Even after battling back to tie the game at 12 in the ninth, the Crimson’s chances of victory seemed slim. With a runner on second and one out, the Bears faced captain Ben Crocket, who was brought in as a reliever after throwing 140 pitches the day before. Crocket, who had limited relief experience, picked up back-to-back strikeouts and brought the Crimson to the plate. That’s when senior first baseman Josh San Salvador—previously sidelined with a partially torn ACL—stepped in, blasting a solo homerun to clinch the walk-off victory and keep the Crimson in the Ivy League title hunt.

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