By: Kylan Watson

The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to rebound after falling to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. They faced a game Chicago Bulls squad who was looking to get their first win over the Sixers of the season. Philly was able to use a fourth quarter offensive explosion to beat the Bulls 119-108.

Philly jumped on the Bulls from the opening tip-off. They made it rain from the three-point line as they hit 11/23 three-pointers. Unlike Friday night the Sixers were hitting their shots and Chicago had no answers for them. Philly was led by Joel Embiid (40-points) and Tobias Harris (23-points) who combined for 63 of Philly’s 116-points. They both were clearly trying to get the bad taste of losing on Friday out of their minds. Both made Chicago pay for daring to leave them open. Chicago had no answers for the duo. Both refused to let their team lose tonight. Whenever Chicago dared to mount a comeback. Embiid or Harris would have the answer. They both are rounding into form. Philly has benefitted from their scoring prowess and playmaking abilities. Those skills have helped the Sixers rocket up the Eastern Conference standings.

On Embiid’s 40-point performance, “Man that guy is special. We needed all 40 of his-points,” said 76ers Head Coach Doc Rivers.

Despite the offensive explosion from Embiid and Harris. Chicago would not go away as they used a fourth quarter offensive explosion to get back in the game. They shrunk Philly’s lead to four-points and were threatening to take the game away from the Sixers. Chicago was led by DeMar DeRozan who scored 45-points and single-handedly kept his team in the game. Whenever the Bulls needed it, he would hit a timely bucket to keep them in the game. Philly was able to make some late-game defensive adjustments. They decided to force him into more difficult shots and made him work for his points. That forced his teammates to step-up, and they just could not do it.

Philly will now prepare for the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, and they will need another balanced scoring night to keep up with the explosive offense of the Suns. Additionally, they will need to have another stellar on the defensive end if they want to stifle the backcourt of the Suns. If they want to get their 33rd win of the season.

On if the team is meeting preseason expectations, “Since I’ve been in the league, every time I’ve been on the floor, it really doesn’t matter who is on the floor, I think we’ve always had a chance,” said Joel Embiid