The Philadelphia 76ers started their five-game road trip with a Friday night matchup against the Chicago Bulls. The Sixers were looking to not only bounce back from a disappointing loss on Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets, but an early-season loss to the Bulls when they led by more than 20 points at halftime.
The Bulls came into Friday on a four-game winning streak after knocking off both Cleveland and Atlanta in the last ten days. Prior to their four-game streak, Chicago was five games under .500 and trying to stay afloat early on. This contest was the fourth time all year that the trio of Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and Joel Embiid shared the floor and looked to get their first win together.
The first quarter started out well for the Sixers, with them showing more energy at the defensive end and rebounding, which helped them build a 13-2 lead. But that seemed to relax them defensively and allowed the Bulls to go on a 12-2 run of their own. Josh Giddey’s vision and pace helped the Bulls fight back and found open shooters to make the Sixers pay.
Philly went through Embiid early and often on the offensive end and relied on offensive rebounds from the likes of Dominick Barlow, Jabari Walker, and Andre Drummond. The Sixers also couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean from beyond the arc in the first quarter after their hot start, allowing the Bulls to take the first quarter 30-28.
The second quarter saw the Sixers continue their bad defense with the Bulls parading to the lane for layup after layup, growing their lead to 11 points. Philly made some defensive changes by putting Joel Embiid on some of Chicago’s non-shooters to allow him to roam a little bit and allowing them to switch on the initial pick and roll action. A boost from McCain and some late buckets by Tyrese Maxey helped Philly fight back and take a 52-49 lead into halftime.
Embiid started the third quarter on fire and helped lead the charge to increase the Sixers’ lead back to double digits, but Chicago wouldn’t go away quietly, going on a scoring run on their own to knock the lead back down to one point. The focal point of the offense of the third quarter was feeding Embiid and getting him in an offensive rhythm. He played ten 10 minutes in the quarter and sat with 27 points in 26 minutes.
With the home team continually pushing the Sixers they needed some offense from someone other than Maxey or Embiid. Paul George has had a tough go of it the last few games, and he hit some much-needed threes to end the quarter to help pad their lead.
Both teams started the fourth quarter off slow offensively both shooting a putrid 2-10 to start the period. Every offensive possession was like pulling teeth, while driving and free throws were major scoring hubs for both teams. A late 7-0 run by Chicago helped them overcome Philly’s lead eventually get a 109-102. The Bulls made all of the winning plays during the final four minutes while the Sixers made all of the mistakes, taking bad shots and giving up offensive rebounds.
The offensive process outside of Embiid and Maxey was just bad. A small run by George to end the third helped but it wasn’t enough. The Bulls got the most out of their entire roster and coach Billy Donovan pushed the right button for the Bulls. Defense also seemed nonexistent for Maxey and crew for extended stretches in the game.
Embiid, Maxey, and George now fall to 0-4 together and are struggling to find the right way to play as a trio. It’s going to take some time to get chemistry, but they need to beat the teams that they are more talented than. Who knows how their health will shake it for this team, so they need to stack as many wins as possible.
Up next for the Sixers
The Sixers will take on the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday afternoon. Tip off is set for 3:30PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
