By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Cleveland Cavaliers last night in South Philadelphia, the Philadelphia 76ers flew to Chicago last night to prepare to face the Bull for the second half of their weekend back-to-back tonight. Despite having every reason to give another game away. Philly fought throughout this contest and used a fourth quarter scoring explosion to beat Chicago 109-97.

The Sixers once again found their offensive rhythm early in the contest, they were able to cash in on the high-percentage shooting opportunities created from their ball movement. Maxey had an explosive first half and scored 20 of his 31 points by half time and had Philly in control throughout most of this contest. Maxey’s scoring prowess could not have returned at a better time for them.

Just like last night he let the game come to him and attacked the Bulls defensive scheme from the three-point line, the perimeter, and the paint. He got multiple Chicago defenders in foul trouble, and they really had no answers for what he was doing. When Chicago sent multiple defenders at him he passed the ball to an open teammate who would put points on the board as well.

Maxey has taken a major leap as a playmaker this season and had nine assists in tonight’s contest and if he can continue to improve as a passer it will add another dimension to the Sixers offense. He is already a great scorer but being able to use his passing ability to create high-percentage shooting opportunities for his teammates will help Philly continue to gain momentum as they head into the All-Star Break.

Paul George also had a good first half in this contest, but he injured his pinky finger while trying to rebound a loose ball. He will have an MRI tomorrow to determine the extent of the injury and there should be an update coming on Joel Embiid sometime tomorrow as well.

He did not finish this game, this is another rough development for George who has really found his rhythm during the month of January, and this has helped keep the Sixers afloat during this rough stretch of the season.

Despite the Maxey scoring explosion the Bulls continued to fight throughout this contest. They were able to erase a nine-point Sixers advantage in the third quarter to retake the lead from Philly. Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic combined for 47 of Chicago’s 97 points in this contest. Both players made the Sixers pay for giving them any room to put a shot up in this game. Their willingness to attack the paint also got the Sixers big men in foul trouble as well.

The Sixers had to implement a zone defensive scheme to protect their big men from fouling out of the game, once Philly began using the zone defensive scheme, they were able to force Chicago to turn the ball over 19 times during this game. That allowed the Sixers to get easy baskets and allowed Kelly Oubre Jr. (22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds) to hit a couple of pivotal buckets to close this game out for Philly and sweep a back-to-back for the first time since April 2024.

Oubre Jr.’s rebounding has really been a difference makers in these two games and that helped the Sixers seal the game, and if he can continue making a difference as a rebounder which has been a big weakness for the Sixers throughout the season, they can continue to build momentum and rocket up the standings in the loaded Eastern Conference.

The Sixers will now have a couple of days off to get healthier and get more updates on the status of some of their weapons (Embiid, George, Andre Drummond, and Caleb Martin). As they prepare to face the Los Angeles Lakers in Philly on Tuesday evening. The Sixers will need to win the rebounding battle, force the Lakers to take well contested shots and limit them to one possession, and continue to make their high-percentage shooting opportunities created off their ball movement.

Implementing these things into their game plan for Tuesday night should put them in great position to win their 18^th game of the season and extend their win streak to three games.