By: Kylan Watson
With the 2024-25 NBA regular season ending today, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Chicago Bulls in their regular season finale. Both teams traded blows throughout this game and the Bulls were able to use a third quarter explosion to beat the Sixers 122-102.
The Sixers once again found their offensive rhythm early in this contest, they were able to cash in on the high-percentage shooting opportunities created from their ball movement. That allowed them to take an early lead over Chicago. Lonnie Walker IV scored 31 points in this game and made eight three-pointers in this contest (New career high). He was unstoppable in this contest and the Bulls just could not stop him in this contest. They did not have enough lengthy defenders to make it difficult on him.
Walker IV has really gotten comfortable in the last few weeks since returning from injury and if he continues to play like this next season, he will be a pivotal role player for the Sixers and could add to a very deep second unit. Towards the end of this season, he became the second-best player the Sixers had on the roster.
With the way some of the role players played in the last few weeks, the Sixers front office will have some decisions to make on who to keep. They need as many consistent shooters and shot creators as they can get to play next to Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey. This season was very disappointing for them, but they can turn it around through filling in the holes on this roster.
Despite the Walker IV scoring explosion, the Bulls were able to take over this game thanks to Kevin Huerter (18 points) and Talen Horton-Tucker (17 points) combined to score 35 of Chicago’s 122 points. Huerter torched the Sixers early in this contest. He made his first 4 three-point attempts and found a way to get his shot up and it did not matter if he had a hand in his face or a wide-open opportunity. His shots found the bottom of the net and Philly had to give him more defensive attention, which opened scoring opportunities for his teammates.
That was the Sixers’ undoing in this contest and throughout this season they just could not put together enough defensive intensity to win many games. That was evident during this contest throughout this game against the Bulls. Chicago was able to find the holes in Philly’s defense and make them pay for mistakes. Philly cannot continue to be lackadaisical on either side of the ball and expect to win games. More time should be taken during the offseason to get back to being one of the top defenses in the league.
The Sixers for the first time in five years will not be a playoff team as they head to an offseason with a lot of uncertainty. They will need to hope that they can get a top five pick in the upcoming draft and build around Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and the draft pick. Doing that should make the future clear for the Sixers clear. This offseason they must figure out if this was a season filled with bad luck or an indication of a team heading for a downturn in the coming years.
