CHICAGO — The Philadelphia 76ers were cruising in the Windy City on Tuesday night. The Sixers led the Chicago Bulls by as many as 24 and it was a 22-point lead in the third quarter. It seemed like they were going to make a statement on the road against a hot Bulls team.
Instead, the Sixers collapsed. The Bulls rallied. They held Philadelphia to just 36 points on 28.9% shooting after halftime. Nikola Vucevic knocked down a corner 3 with 3.2 seconds left and they beat the Sixers 113-111.
Joel Embiid, in particular, had a tough fourth quarter. He shot 0-for-5 from the floor and had a turnover as the Bulls swarmed him and he couldn’t respond. It was just one of those moments for the big fella.
“The shots that I took–they were good shots,” Embiid said after the loss. “I just missed them. Obviously, being in rhythm helps a lot. I had a couple short ones. It happens. Just gotta move on to the next game, get better, and make shots next time.”
The Sixers shot just 4-for-22 from the floor in the fourth quarter and shot 0-for-6 from deep. Tyrese Maxey scored the team’s final field goal at the 6:26 mark of the game. He scored their final points at the 4:26 mark of the contest on two free throws.
“I think we got some decent shots down the stretch,” said Maxey. “Mine was bad, a sidestep 3 that was blocked, but other than that? I think we got some decent shots down the stretch.”
Even before the final stretch in the fourth, the Sixers committed seven turnovers in the third and were not able to rally and get it back under control. There was a lot of sloppy play from Philadelphia and it allowed the Bulls to dig deep and rally from a contest such as this one.
“I think probably want to start with some turnovers,” said coach Nick Nurse. “I think we had four offensive fouls in the third quarter. Those are all turnovers, couple moving screens, couple charges, couple bad passes. I didn’t think we got a ton in transition, and then the open floor in the first half, we didn’t get much of that at all in the second. I think they ground us down just a little bit. Obviously, the last stretch of the game, just didn’t make any plays, make any shots.”