The Philadelphia 76ers narrowly won a tight contest against the Chicago Bulls. After blowing an 18-point lead in the first quarter, the Sixers held on.
The Philadelphia 76ers have 27 post-All-Star break games to play, and the average winning percentage of their opponents for the rest of the way is merely .437. The Sixers made their game against the 20-38 Bulls much harder than it needed to be, but a pair of clutch free throws from Ben Simmons iced the game in Philly’s favor.
After the Sixers built up their first-quarter lead, their opponents came roaring back to end the first quarter only down four points. Luckily for Brett Brown’s men, the blown lead came earlier in the game than usual, so they had time to recuperate and make the adjustments needed to come out on top.
The highlights of the game were dominant performances from Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Zach Lavine, Bobby Portis, and David Nwaba. Portis hung a career-high 38 points, while Lavine put up 23 and Nwaba had 21. Embiid and Simmons did the bulk of the scoring for the 76ers, combining for 62 of the team’s 116 points.
Embiid got Bulls center Cristiano Felicio into foul trouble early, and that set the tone for his performance for the rest of the game. He and Ben Simmons dragged the Sixers to the win, which has been a common theme for multiple games this season.
The game got exciting as the first half came to a close. Zach Lavine hit a bomb of a three with a minute left in the second quarter to make it 66-62, but J.J. Redick answered with one of his own to make it a one-point game. Noah Vonleh then hit a three to answer Redick’s, and the Bulls went into halftime up by four.
Nwaba, a 28 percent three-point shooter coming into the game, went 3-3 from long range. Portis also chipped in with six three-pointers of his own. Just in time to save the game, the Sixers made their adjustments and got a bit lucky late in the fourth quarter so they could move up to a 31-25 record.
With less than four minutes left in the game, Chicago led by a score of 111-106. Nwaba fouled out before Redick missed a free throw to keep the Bulls ahead by four points. A Saric Dunk and a free throw got the Sixers within two.
Portis missed the ensuing layup and Embiid received the ball on the baseline, but he lost the handle and turned it over. The hosts went right down the floor and Lavine hit a bomb of a three to put his squad up five. Saric followed that with a tip-in.
The game ended with Redick and Simmons each hitting two free throws, and Simmons’ came after he tipped a Denzel Valentine inbound pass to Joel Embiid. The Sixers made it much harder than it needed to be, but they got the win nonetheless.
Ben Simmons’ clutch free throw shooting was out of character since he only makes 56 percent of his shots from the line, but the 21-year-old showed great composure, maturity, and leadership when he iced the game for his side. Aside from his nearly-fatal turnover in the last minute of the game, Embiid showed why he started in the All-Star Game.
Next: What if PG13 joins in free agency? (mailbag)
The Sixers’ 116-115 victory over the Chicago Bulls gives the team and fans a lot to take pride in, but the supporting cast’s lack of production and the blown lead gives the team a lot to work on in the near future.