Final Score – Chicago Bulls 111 @ Philadelphia 76ers 88
“Young, scrappy Sixers” was a phrase that Alaa Abdelnaby mentioned halfway through the second quarter as his way of complimenting the Philadelphia 76ers on a valiant comeback. Other than that, there wasn’t much good to say, as the Philadelphia 76ers lost big to the Chicago Bulls tonight, 111-88.
With Nerlens Noel sitting out tonight with a sore wrist, Richaun Holmes got the starting nod next to Jahlil Okafor. Even if Noel was able to suit up, his presence would most likely have not helped the Sixers pull off the win, as only Holmes, Hollis Thompson, and Phil Pressey impacted the game positively in +/-, with Richaun the leader at +5.
This was an especially rough game for Philly’s two main scorers in Jahlil and Nik Stauskas who combined to go 11/38, looking lost and forcing ill-advised shots to try and break their slumps. It seemed as though Jahlil wasn’t used to the front court length of Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson, keeping him in his rut all night.
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If Jah looked bad on the night, Nik looked worse. You could tell that Nik was trying to look open spaces and, when the ball gets swung to him, hit the shot or drive-and-dish. Unfortunately, what actually happened was he floated out on the perimeter, forced shots against tight defense, and couldn’t get past his defender when attempting a drive, all of which hurt the flow of the Sixers’ offense.
The main thing that could help Nik’s game is for the team to incorporate offensive sets that emphasize off-ball movement better. There were too many times where the plan was to dump the ball to Jah in the post, while the rest of the offense stood around watching. Since Jah is a willing and able passer, the Sixers can potentially get weak side buckets from cutters, including Nik and Jerami Grant, who kept attacking the rim and was met with a cluster of Bulls.
While it was hard to find silver linings in this game, some did show up. The biggest positive was the team’s effort throughout the game as their effort in the second quarter gave the Sixers a short lead for the game. This is a testament to the attitude of Brett Brown who showed his fiery temperament, having heated discussions with the refs late into the game. The bench also came through with a lot of energy against Chicago, but the talent gap was too much to overcome.
Speaking of silver linings…
Player of the Game
Despite shooting inefficiently, Jahlil gets our Player of the Game award with his 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 100% effort all night. He started the game in a huge slump and tried to shake it off by doing the dirty work, especially fighting for offensive boards to try and get easy buckets. It was clear that Philly wouldn’t be able to get anything going unless Jah had a big game and, since he didn’t, the Sixers came out with a huge loss on their home court. The rebounds were the most impressive part of his night, as his 15 boards are now his career high. He looked very conscious hitting the offensive and defensive glass and was rewarded time and again for his efforts.
Tweet of the night
Stauskas 3 puts the #Sixers up 36-35 with 6:31 left in half.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) November 10, 2015
That tweet was the highlight Philly’s night… and it all went downhill from there.
Looking Ahead
Philadelphia’s next game will be this coming Wednesday, November 11th at home against the Toronto Raptors, who are currently leading the Atlantic Division.