Bulls live to fight again

Both coaches portrayed it as two heavyweights slugging it out.

It was more like two slugs waiting it out.

As so it goes as the Bulls and Sixers will play another game in this series Thursday after the Bulls held off Philadelphia for a 77-69 victory in Game 5 at the UC on Tuesday night.

The Sixers have two more chances to close out the Bulls, who were already missing Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah — with Luol Deng playing at about 50 percent — when Taj Gibson came down on a Philadelphia shoe and turned his right ankle near the end of the third quarter.

He returned in the fourth but was limping the rest of the game and looked like he was in serious pain.

Yes, the Bulls live to fight another day, but they’re as thin as a super model and healthy bodies are increasingly scarce.

“We’re facing elimination after a hard season of basketball. I have to be out there,” Gibson said. “Any other time, probably not, but I’m looking forward to the next game. I’ll be OK.”

That is an optimistic view of yet another Bulls injury, but the Bulls most certainly can’t survive another game without Gibson, who managed 8 points and 7 rebounds in 25 minutes.

“Gibson’s impact on the game was huge,” said Philly coach Doug Collins. “He was really terrific.”

It was an even game (59-59) except for the second quarter, when the Sixers managed all of 10 points, including 2 in the final six minutes.

“It’s playoff basketball,” Gibson said. “It don’t get any better than this.”

On that point, most would disagree.

“Our second quarter was a disaster offensively,” Collins said. “My hat’s off to the Bulls. It’s not like they played a great game. They played an efficient game and kept us off our game.”

The Bulls managed 18 points in the second quarter when they won the game, shooting 40 percent. But that was like “Showtime’’ compared to the Sixers, who shot 17 percent in the second.

The Sixers couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat. While floating in the middle of Lake Michigan. In 20-foot swells. With a leaky vessel. On a rainy day.

“We struggled to make shots,” Collins said. “It’s nice when that ball goes in the basket. Sometimes you sit there and wonder how you can help.

“We’re not a great shooting team. That’s just us. We’re not a great shooting team. We have to move the ball and we can’t turn it over. We have to get rebounds and get out on the break.”

And yet the Sixers lead the series 3-2, giving you an idea of just how banged up the Bulls are at the worst imaginable time.

“The last three games we’ve been incredibly offensively challenged,” Collins said. “One thing I’ve learned in this business is when you don’t play well, it’s usually because your opponent didn’t let you play well.

“You have to give the Bulls credit. They’re a great, great defensive team and they played us very physically.”

Naturally, both coaches said it was terrific defense that caused the poor shooting Tuesday and throughout the series — the Bulls shot 41 percent Tuesday — but the reality is these are two bad teams right now and when the winner gets Boston, it’s not going to be very pretty.

“Our defense is fine,” said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. “Our scoring is something we need to work on. We need some easy baskets.”

That’s been a problem for four years, and considering the state of the Bulls’ lineup, there’s no miracle cure in sight.

brozner@dailyherald.com

Ÿ Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score’s “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM, and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.