What is the story about?
Well, they got those three guys going, time to figure out the rest of the team.
The Sixers, unable to provide any support to Joel Embiid, lost 108-102 to the Chicago Bulls Friday night. They’re now 0-4 when Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Embiid all play.
Embiid led all scorers with 31 points shooting 10-of-19 from the floor along with five rebounds. Maxey had 27 points and eight assists but had two bad misses late, finishing 9-of-23 from the floor.
George had 15 shooting 5-of-15 while VJ Edgecombe, back
after missing one game with an illness, was the only other Sixer to reach double digits with 10 points going 4-of-13 from the floor.
Dominick Barlow and Quentin Grimes returned from their illness as well, leaving only Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford on the Sixers’ injury report.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- The two returning starters’ impact was felt immediately. Edgecombe poked the ball away from Josh Giddey for an easy fast break dunk, then Barlow was benefitted from Matas Buzelis just coughing up the ball for a pick-6 of his own. Chicago throwing one more pass right at two Sixers set up for an easy 13-2 start.
- Once the Bulls started taking care of the ball they did settle in, shooting 55% from the field and 5-of-9 from deep to start the game. The Sixers’ aggression to force turnovers was taken advantage of and they were able to swing to many open shots.
- Embiid certainly liked the matchup with Zach Collins, looking to post him up as quick as possible when he checked into the game. It felt like it was the most bully-ball he wanted to play in one continuous stretch this season. He went 4-of-5 from the field, but similar to that Nets loss, the rest of the Sixers shot 27% from the field, and they trailed by two after one despite the hot start.
Second Quarter
- The extended Chicago run turned into a 39-17 skid for the Sixers as they continued to leave shooters wide open while not being able to buy a jumper themselves. Jared McCain checked into the game and was able to get a couple layups up and in but no one could get anything from outside to fall. After Maxey made the team’s second attempt, they went on to miss 11 straight threes.
- Back in familiar territory, the offense improved with Embiid returning to the game. He was able to end the three-point drought, and Maxey was finally able to get enough space to get to the basket. Defensively, their best effort was coming from McCain. He’s shown a knack the last couple of games for getting his hands on passes and rebounds late and changing possessions.
- His teammates would follow on that end, letting Embiid roam as opposed to guarding the center straight up paid off. They held the Bulls to 19 points in the quarter. On offense, the Maxey-Embiid duo remained the only ones able to hit a three in the half, and it was their shotmaking that allowed them to crawl to a three-point lead at the half.
Third Quarter
- Those two continued to fuel the offense to start the half, Embiid having his best outside shooting game of the season. Edgecombe was finally able to score in the half court after a quiet first half, getting to the basket a couple of times for some impressive finishes. PG was also finally able to knock down a three during this stretch.
- Embiid’s work moved to the free throw line as he was able get his defenders with the swipe through move often. On the other end the Sixers started losing three-point shooters on the perimeter again. Kevin Huerter turned the clock back to 2021 as soon as the Bulls fell behind by double digits.
- The lack of scoring continued to stand out and it’s what kept the Bulls right in the game. George finally seemed to find some type of groove, knocking down a couple more three-pointers to extend the Sixers’ lead to four by the end of the third.
Fourth Quarter
- George nailed one more from the corner to start the quarter, but the Sixers went over three minutes before their next field goal, one coming out of a timeout and a free throw no less. A lineup led by VJ and PG is very intriguing but neither were scoring inside the arc consistently enough on the night.
- The offense did find something in attacking the basket, but not frequently enough to keep the Bulls at bay. They did a good job of getting to the line all night, but couldn’t keep the Bulls off the line during this stretch either. For as much as Embiid did well he was struggling in drop coverage.
- Embiid continued to be as aggressive attacking the post as he was to start the night, and he was still able to muscle his way to baskets but none of his teammates could make it when he kicked out to them. That aggression also put him on the wrong end of a poster from Jalen Smith amidst a late 7-0 Bulls run.
- After a timeout to try to stop that run, Maxey came down and got his layup blocked by Nik Vucevic. The Sixers then proceeded to give up their 11th and 12th offensive rebounds of the night, surrendering an easy layup that put the game away. This was a perfectly winnable game, but no one else but the big fella stepped up for it.
