Brooks, Bulls escape Philly with win
When the injured list grows out of control, style points become irrelevant.
The short-handed Bulls struggled against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night, but point guard Aaron Brooks came through with a season-high 31 points, lifting the Bulls to a 104-95 overtime victory.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak. The Bulls were not only missing Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson due to injuries, but center Joakim Noah sat out to rest a sore knee.
It's not clear if any of those players will be back for Friday's game at Charlotte. Under the circumstances, grinding out a win in Philly was huge for the Bulls.
"Just find a way to scratch out wins, hold the fort until we can get some guys back and we can go from there," coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the game.
This contest took several crazy twists and turns. Philadelphia didn't score for the first 7:40 of the third quarter, missing 12 straight shots. The Bulls pulled out to a 79-65 lead with 9:44 left in the fourth when Kirk Hinrich drained a 3-pointer.
But the Sixers answered with a quick 15-0 run to take the lead with 6:11 left. Philadelphia canned 3 baskets from 3-point range during the run but was just 11 of 41 overall from behind the arc.
The Bulls led 89-85, then gave up 7 straight points and appeared to be on the ropes. But Brooks saved the day when he buried a tying 3-pointer with 33 seconds left.
Defense saved the Bulls twice down the stretch. After Isaiah Canaan missed a driving layup with 18 seconds left, the 76ers got another chance when Tony Snell threw a bad outlet pass. This time Nikola Mirotic got his arm up and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute missed a 16-foot jumper just before the buzzer.
The Bulls dominated overtime, with Brooks and Gasol splitting the first 8 points. Then Brooks knocked down another 3 to make it 103-94 with 1:02 left.
"We got it done without our guys and it felt good," Brooks said. "This team is resilient. It's going to make us better in the long run."
Gasol finished with 27 points and 16 rebounds for his league-leading 44th double-double of the season. It was his ninth game with at least 20 points and 15 boards.
"It's a valuable win for us," he said. "A lot of handicaps, but we got it done. That gives us confidence."
In their previous game, the 76ers knocked off East-leading Atlanta while the Hawks rested some starters, on purpose. With the numbers down, several Bulls logged heavy minutes. At least there's a day off before facing the Hornets on Friday.
"We're heading down the stretch now, so every game is critical," Thibodeau said. "You'd like to have everyone out there so you can build your rhythm, but it's not the case for us, hasn't been the case all year. So whoever we have, let's go."
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