After rough start, Bulls get physical and rally to beat Sixers
The new NBA Tuesday night game of the week on NBC could have aired the battle for first place in the Eastern Conference between the Bulls and Philadelphia, rather than Orlando vs. Atlanta.
For a while, it looked like the network executives knew what they were doing by skipping this one.
While the Bulls tried to ease into things at the start, the 76ers brought the aggression early, threw the first punch, added several more haymakers and built a lead of 24 points.
But this turned out to be one of the more entertaining comebacks in recent Bulls history, one that may have captivated a national audience.
The Bulls took their first lead of the night on a corner 3-pointer by Nikola Vucevic with 3.2 seconds left and beat Philadelphia 113-111 at the United Center.
The Bulls defense, which went missing at the start, was incredible down the stretch. The 76ers took a 111-104 lead with 4:26 remaining and didn't score again. The Bulls actually missed several chances to complete the comeback sooner.
“I was really disappointed in the first half physically,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I thought we got beat up on the glass by them. Coupled with the fact they shot it really well. We just don't have the luxury to not invest the full 48 minutes on physicality things.”
Josh Giddey set up the winning shot by driving into the lane, drawing Sixers center Joel Embiid into the paint, then curling a left-handed pass into the corner.
On the previous possession, Giddey backed into the lane, got caught in the air and his desperation pass to Matas Buzelis was stolen.
“I think it was a great chance tonight to see how we'd respond after our first loss in New York (on Sunday),” Giddey said. “This was an awesome test and unbelievable resilience by the group. It would have been easy to throw the towel in and call it a night.”
Giddey finished with a triple-double, producing 29 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. Vucevic added 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Isaac Okoro added a season-high 16 points.
Sixers point guard Tyrese Maxey was unstoppable until the final four minutes, finishing with 39 points. Embiid scored 20, but came up empty in the fourth quarter.
“We started being physical, pretty straight forward,” Giddey said. “First half, they were driving right through us, Maxey was doing whatever he wanted. The second half, it kind of flipped. we were much more physical and we rebounded the ball the way we needed to on both ends.”
The Bulls out-rebounded Philadelphia 32-15 in the second half, while winning the second-chance points 14-4. The Sixers scored 75 points in the first half, then just 36 in the second.
“The physicality, it was night and day between the first and second half,” Giddey said. “When you get momentum, it's easy to do those things. It's about doing them when you're down 20, 25 and the game feels like it's over. Credit to the group, we did that.”
There's a long way to go, but with a 6-1 record, the Bulls are alone in first place in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers dropped to 5-2. The Bulls have a bunch of road games ahead, beginning this weekend in Milwaukee and Cleveland.
Ayo Dosunmu missed his second straight game with a left quad contusion, but the hope is he'll be back this weekend. Before the game, Donovan said Coby White (right calf strain) has a goal of returning to practice next week, but is at least two weeks from playing in games.