The Philadelphia 76ers (49-23) got another crack at the Chicago Bulls (34-38) in their place after being handed a loss on Monday. In the rematch without James Harden, the Sixers got out to a historically great start to a game and pummeled the Bulls with a final score of 116-91.
Let's break down the Sixers' win over the Bulls.
Sixers player notes:
Joel Embiid: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 5-7 FG shooting
Embiid led the charge to start the game, leading the offense and cleaning the glass as the Sixes took a massive lead. The last time Harden sat, he talked about how much he liked being the playmaker. He backed up those words by getting the ball to his open teammates like clockwork. Since playing so well that he doesn't have to play in the fourth quarter is too easy, he didn't play in the entire second half tonight. He sacrificed his 30-burger streak but got some extra rest in return, playing just 16 minutes in this one.
Tyrese Maxey: 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 8-19 FG shooting
Maxey saw the ball a lot more with Harden out but did a lot of his damage as an off-ball terror. He lit up the Bulls from deep and, without Embiid in the second half, continued to shoot well. The times when he looked lost and was trying to find his role feel like things in the distant past.
Tobias Harris: 20 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 5-9 FG shooting
Despite taking an inadvertent elbow from Embiid early in the first quarter as they both went for a rebound, Harris played a very strong game. His off-ball cutting led to points in various ways, he was racking up assists and he reacted quickly with the ball.
De'Anthony Melton: 25 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 8-16 FG shooting
Melton tormented the Bulls on defense as a menace in the passing lanes while scoring well from all areas of the floor. This was his first game with 20 points since going off for a career-high 33 points in December.
Bulls player notes:
Zach LaVine: 16 points, 0 rebounds, 4 assists, 6-15 FG shooting
LaVine first got the Bulls on the board with a free throw and helped them look like an actual NBA team. But he also committed four turnovers and wasn't able to correct Chicago's course.
DeMar DeRozan: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 0-7 FG shooting
The Sixers' plan to switch Embiid onto DeRozan continues to work well. He had a brutal performance before injuring his quad and leaving mid-game.
Coby White: 19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 8-13 FG shooting
White was of the few Bulls who actually looked good tonight. His red-hot shooting off the bench made the game feel close after the Sixers' scintillating start. He scored on some impressive finishes at the hoop and shot very well from deep. Former Sixer Andre Drummond had 13 points, 12 boards and two blocks.
Game recap:
1st half
James Harden sat out with Achilles soreness and De'Anthony Melton started in his place. P.J. Tucker returned after missing the last two games and recorded an offensive rebound and assist on a Melton triple in the first play of the game. Surprisingly, after Patrick Beverley Bothered Harden on Monday, Billy Donovan had him guard Melton instead of Maxey.
The Sixers scored 17 points in just over three minutes to start, spreading the ball around to find open looks and taking advantage of some poor rotations. Without their leading playmaker, the Sixers moved the ball freely and in a way that didn't allow Chicago to muck up their offense. Each of their early buckets was assisted (with each starter recording at least one dime) while Chicago went scoreless and burned two timeouts. The 17-0 start was the most lopsided of the season.
Philly went up 23-1 at one point — no pun intended — and kept scoring at will. Embiid, of course, was doing a lot of that scoring while also making plays in Harden's absence. Eventually, the Bulls found some life through LaVine pushing the pace and Drummond scoring at the rim and dominating the offensive glass, though LaVine left the first quarter with two fouls.
Maxey and Tucker played in the second unit while DeRozan and Vucevic did the same for Chicago. Shake Milton, despite being guarded by a formidable defender in Ayo Dosunmu, got into the paint to score and dropped some dimes. The Bulls shot well, including from deep, but played abysmal transition defense and didn't close gaps in the halfcourt, leaving room for Philly to get off good shots.
At halftime, the Sixers had a whopping 76 (hey!) points while the Bulls had just 48. Philly had 23 assists on 26 made shots while shooting 61.2 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from deep.
2nd half
Paul Reed started the second half instead of Embiid, who wasn't on the bench to start the half. The NBC broadcast didn't mention why. To no one's surprise, the offense did not run as smoothly. The Bulls' offense wasn't much better, though. Reed stuffed LaVine at the rim and Maxey took it the other way for an and-one layup.
Meanwhile, Chicago blew a five-on-four advantage and then let Melton get an offensive rebound with one hand before fouling him. Dewayne Dedmon checked in for Reed roughly halfway through the third quarter. DeRozan left the game early after suffering a quad strain as the Sixers maintained their enormous lead without Embiid with Maxey and Melton owning the game.
No update was provided on Embiid until late in the third quarter. Kate Scott said that a Sixers official had informed the broadcast that Embiid was unlikely to return because of the score differential. The Chicago bench trio of White, Dosunmu and Drummond did what they could to try to get the Bulls (close to) back into it but to no avail. The Sixers forced turnovers as they continued locking down on defense.
Aside from the motivations of wanting to win without Harden and avenging Monday's loss, the biggest key to the Sixers looking so much better was that they made quick decisions with and without the ball. The Sixers' cutting opened up more passing avenues and Embiid took advantage of many of them.
Harden controls lots of the ball movement and the Bulls seem to have figured out how to cut off his space. The Sixers, forced to play without him, got the ball flowing early and hit their shots while playing good defense, resulting in a huge lead they had no trouble holding onto.
Random thoughts:
- ICYMI, Zach LaVine joined the chorus of players who believe Embiid is the rightful MVP this season. The opinions of players may not sway voters that much but he is one of several current and former players to vouch for the Sixers' big guy.
- That goaltending call on Reed in the second quarter was atrocious. Not only was it wrong but it was called by a ref who was well beyond the opposite three-point line. That's just not the call to make from that spot on the floor.
The Sixers' road trip continues on Friday against the Golden State Warriors, the first of three games out west. The Sixers provided an update on Embiid after the game, saying that he was dealing with calf tightness and is expected to play on Friday.