By: Kylan Watson
After losing on a buzzer beater tap-in basket to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the struggling Chicago Bulls tonight in South Philadelphia. Chicago dominated the Sixers from the opening tipoff and beat the Sixers 142-110. With the loss Philly extends their losing streak to eight straight games and it looks like they will not be making the play-in tournament this year.
Once again, the Sixers lacked connectivity and communication on the defensive end, and it cost them dearly. They let a Chicago team that has struggled on the offensive end throughout this season, look like a top offensive team in the association as they let the Bulls score 75 points by half-time and this game was over then.
Philly showed no fight throughout this game and if this is going to be the effort they give on a daily basis, the Sixers might as well play the young guys and continue to secure a top six position in the 2025 NBA Draft. One of the few positives in this game was Paul George (19 points) once again he played aggressively in this game and attacked the rim, now it did not help Philly win the game tonight but if George finally plays like his old self that will be a positive development throughout the rest of this season. The scoring load is wide-open now, especially if Joel Embiid does not return for the rest of this season and George should use that opportunity to get more shots up for as long as he is on the floor.
The Sixers have enough talent, especially with both George and Maxey on the floor to at least be competitive with the teams that they have played lately. However, they have been unable to take advantage of their talent advantage because they cannot put together a complete performance on both sides of the court. That is embarrassing because they just wrapped up their 57th game of an 82-game season and they should be able to not fall apart on the defensive end by now.
The Bulls killed their defensive scheme by cutting to the basket and the Sixers did not follow their defensive assignment which led to an easy lay-up or dunk opportunity. This happened multiple times during the Brooklyn Nets game on Saturday and continued to happen tonight. The Sixers either need to be better with their defensive connection or dedicate practices to the proper way to defend a player that is cutting to the basket. Clearly whatever they are doing during practice time is not working.
Chicago was able to rip them apart on both sides of the court Josh Giddey (25 points) and Kevin Huerter (23 points) combined for 48 of the Bulls 138 points. Huerter found his three-point stroke as he made 7/11 of his three-point attempts in tonight’s contest and that was one of the biggest difference makers in this game. The Sixers’ inability to guard three-point shooters continues to be their undoing. They must be better at staying connected to shooters, especially after screens they keep dropping the coverage after the screen and it led to wide-open opportunities from beyond the arc for Huerter. This has been another consistent weakness of the Sixers defensive scheme they overplay the screen and get out there too late on the shooter.
During their eight-game losing streak Philly’s defensive lapses and inability to hit three-pointers have cost them games. At this point in the season, the Sixers need to decide what kind of team they want to be are they going to be the hard-working team that is better than the sum of its parts or are they going to be the team that gives up when things get tough.
The road does not get any easier for them as they play the New York Knicks on Wednesday night. They will need to stay connected and communicate on the defensive end because they cannot give up high-percentage shooting opportunities to a Knicks team that will turn into a rout very quickly if they do not come to play. Philly will need to cash in on their high-percentage shooting opportunities and limit their turnovers. Implementing these things into their game plan on Wednesday night should put the Sixers in great position to win their 21st game of the season and end their eight-game losing streak.
