The 6-1 Philadelphia 76ers have a golden opportunity to continue their winning ways on Monday when they host a struggling Chicago Bulls squad.
Getting injuries out of the way, at the time of writing Monday morning Joel Embiid is currently listed as questionable to face the Bulls for planters fasciitis injury management. This is also the designation that Embiid had when he missed the second leg of the weekend back-to-back on Saturday. Of course, any injury designation for Embiid makes us all nervous,
but one could also speculate that the Sixers may just feel they shouldn’t need the big fella on Monday and are giving him the extra rest. We will just have to wait and see how things develop.
Dominick Barlow remains out with the low back stress reaction that has delayed his participation to start the season. For the Bulls, Nic Claxton is doubtful with a hamstring strain while Jalen Smith (finger) and Tobe Awaka (ankle) are probable.
Not to be too harsh on Chicago, but the Bulls are struggling mightily to start off this season. At 1-5 and coming into Monday on a four-game losing streak, there’s just a lot of things on the wrong trajectory for them. They’re currently 29th of 30 in the league in field goal percentage sinking just 41.4% of shots from the floor; dead last in three-point percentage hitting just 28.1% from long range; 25th in offensive rating and 28th in defensive rating; 24th in turnovers per game; and 28th in personal fouls per game.
Yes, the season is still very new, and we all know how much can change over the marathon of an 82-game season… but right now, there are a lot of weaknesses the Sixers can look to exploit. If I’m Nick Nurse, I want to see my squad take advantage of those turnovers and get out in transition with the speed they have shown already, and I want to see them drawing as many fouls as possible. Take the easy points when you can get ‘em, and hopefully you’re never worrying about playing catch-up the way the Sixers have in a number of games to start their season. Maybe you won’t even have to play Tyrese Maxey for 40 minutes just to snag the win.
One bright spot for Chicago thus far has been rookie Caleb Wilson. The 2026 4th-overall pick out of the University of North Carolina has been leading the Bulls to start the season putting up 21.2 points per game with 6.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. Thirty-three-year-old veteran Norman Powell has been right there with Wilson chipping in 20.7 points per game. Josh Giddey has been the main playmaker for Chicago averaging 7.5 assists per game, with the next highest mark in that category for the team being Tre Jones averaging just 3.0 assists off the bench.
All in all, with or without Embiid, this is a game the Sixers shouldn’t struggle with. If anything, this is a game Philadelphia fans should really hope to see them not have to fight with all their might or stage a comeback in. This is a one-game homestand before the Sixers hit the road for a few games, so it would be in their best interest not to make things harder than they need to be.
Whether they do that, though, is always up in the air.
The Sixers and Bulls tip off in South Philadelphia at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Game Details
When: Monday, November 2, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
