PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers' eight-game winning streak is over after a brutal loss to the Chicago Bulls. The Sixers' offense failed to launch in one of James Harden's worst games and wasted strong efforts from Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and De'Anthony Melton.
The Sixers slogged through a double-overtime contest to lose 109-105 in one of their very worst offensive performances of the season. They shot 42.2 percent from the field, which isn't bad on its face, but they made the Bulls look like a defensive juggernaut with their inability to run offensive sets and take care of the ball.
“Story of the game — turnovers and then we couldn't really get anything going offensively really the whole game,” Embiid said.
The Sixers committed 12 turnovers in the first half alone and failed to get any separation or clean looks against the stingy Bulls defense. Doc Rivers said he isn't super worried that the Sixers have been highly turnover prone to start three of their last five games. Still, he made it clear that he would like for his team to break the habit.
“I don't like turnovers. I don't like sloppy play,” the Sixers head coach said. “The turnovers were easy tonight: we were all standing next to each other and I thought it was pretty easy for them to get their hands in. And then when guys were open, we weren't moving the ball. So I just didn't like how we played offensively. It's not a state of emergency or anything like that. I just thought we played poorly offensively. Overall we haven't done that. Tonight, we did.”
Harden, who has recently dealt with left foot soreness, could miss another game after playing through foot pain in the loss to the Bulls. The Sixers will get another chance at facing Chicago to exercise their scoring demons.
Follow Us
Subscribe