Embiid was listed as probable and played, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds. That's a solid double-double, not a takeover. The bigger story for Philly's frontcourt was the glass. Cleveland beat them 65-51 on the boards on Friday, and a frontcourt without Adem Bona, Dominick Barlow and Ariel Hukporti looked like a liability coming in. In Chicago the Sixers won the rebounding battle 54-42. Norman Powell was ruled out for the Bulls on the morning of the game and Zach Collins sat with an illness, so Chicago never had the bodies inside to make the matchup the preview worried about.
The shooting came back too, at least partly. Philly went 10-of-40 from 3 in Cleveland, and that was the loss. Here they went 14-of-34 and 46-of-99 overall. Nobody would call that a great night from deep, but it was enough, because the Bulls still couldn't keep anyone in front of them.
Chicago kept it close anyway. The Bulls won the third quarter 32-31, the fourth ended 28-28, and the 7-point halftime gap was still 6 at the final horn. Josh Giddey had 19 points, 15 assists and 7 rebounds and ran the offense the whole way. Matas Buzelis added 19. The preview said this Bulls offense has been fine during the skid, and it was again: 121 points with Powell out is a real number. That's 5 straight games of 105 or more.
The defense is still the problem. Chicago has now given up 127, 135, 126, 125 and 133 in its last 5, all losses, and sits at 1-8. A team that scores 121 at home and loses doesn't have an effort problem. It can't get stops, and until it gets healthy enough to defend, it's going to lose games like this one.
Philadelphia finishes a 2-1 road trip at 9-2 and has won 4 of its last 5, with the Cleveland game as the only miss. The Sixers swept the 2 games against Chicago this month, 126-107 at home and 127-121 here. It wasn't pretty, but they did what a top team has to do after a bad night: fix the shooting, win the glass, and get out of town with a win.
