Observations after Sixers falter down stretch, open road trip with loss to Bulls originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Sixers were thoroughly outplayed in crunch time Friday night in Chicago.
Advertisement
They kicked off a five-game road trip by faltering late in the fourth quarter and dropping a 109-102 contest to the Bulls.
Chicago extended its winning streak to five games and moved to 15-15 overall. The Sixers dipped to 16-13. They’ll face the Thunder on Sunday afternoon.
Joel Embiid scored 31 points and Tyrese Maxey added 27.
The Bulls had six double-figure scorers. Zach Collins and Tre Jones posted 15 points each.
Here are observations on the Sixers’ loss to the Bulls:
Three key pieces back in action
VJ Edgecombe, Dominick Barlow and Quentin Grimes were back in the fold after all three players missed the Sixers’ loss Tuesday to Nets because of an illness.
Advertisement
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse had highlighted that his team felt the absence of that trio’s considerable collective athleticism. Their boost was noticeable right away in Chicago.
Edgecombe opened the game guarding Josh Giddey and Barlow defended Matas Buzelis. Both Edgecombe and Barlow featured in the Sixers’ strong start. Barlow had an early put-back layup and Edgecombe turned a steal into an easy slam. Two free throws apiece by Edgecombe and Barlow gave the Sixers a 13-2 lead.
Grimes scored a slick bucket on the Sixers’ last possession of the first quarter, gliding along the baseline and converting a graceful reverse layup.
Boards help Sixers offset more shooting troubles
Maxey sunk a long-range jumper for the night’s first points. He was coming off of his worst shooting game of the season, a 3-for-14 outing vs. Brooklyn.
Advertisement
Seeing one drop didn’t spell an immediate return to form; Maxey missed his next six field goals. As a team, the Sixers started 1 for 13 beyond the arc.
Their early superiority on the glass mitigated those shooting struggles. The Sixers grabbed the game’s first six offensive rebounds and scored the first nine second-chance points. Paul George reached a new season high in rebounds by the end of the first half. He finished with 12 rebounds — his most in a game since 2021
— and also tallied 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting and five assists.
The Sixers have improved substantially on the offensive boards so far this season. According to Cleaning the Glass, they entered Friday night ranked eighth in the NBA in offensive rebounding rate.
Bulls dominate off the bench, down the stretch
With Maxey, George and Embiid all sitting, the Sixers’ defense was very leaky in the first few minutes of the second quarter. Chicago routinely had the Sixers on their heels and created high-quality looks in the half court with little resistance. Ayo Dosunmu’s wide-open corner three put the Bulls up 41-30.
Advertisement
The Sixers’ stars prevented that deficit from growing.
Embiid had another efficient, aggressive first quarter offensively and also churned out plenty of points in the second and third. Maxey eventually rediscovered his jumper to some extent, knocking down five threes. He wound up 9 for 24 from the field.
Chicago leaned heavily on its bench and got a ton of production. The Bulls’ second unit racked up 59 points. On the other side, Nurse tried a variety of bench options and ultimately used 11 players. No Sixers bench player did much in the scoring department. Overall, the team’s second unit had just 12 points on 5-for-19 shooting.
The Sixers and Bulls traded runs throughout the night. Thanks to threes from George and Maxey late in the third quarter, the Sixers held an 85-81 edge going into the fourth.
Advertisement
Like so many Sixers games this year, the contest came down to the final minutes. The Sixers went up 102-99 with 2:45 to play when Embiid scored on Nikola Vucevic in the post.
The Bulls then closed the evening with a 10-0 spurt, making all the clutch plays and out-hustling the Sixers on several occasions.
Jalen Smith jammed in a huge dunk over Embiid and Coby White nailed a step-back three on the Sixers’ superstar big man. Jones scored inside after the 6-foot-1 guard somehow snagged two offensive boards on one possession.
Offensively, the Sixers appeared rushed and panicky at times as Chicago seized control of the game. No one had any answers to stop the bleeding.
