Chicago (USA), Mar 22 (EFE) , started with a 17-0, in which Joel Embiid was able to manage energy and leave the track after the first half.
On Monday in Philadelphia, the Bulls snapped the 76ers’ eight-game winning streak after two overtimes, with a new sign of growth after winning at home, also after two overtimes, against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But this Wednesday at the United Center the 76ers, without James Harden, hit the table and crushed the Bulls to keep up the fight for second place in the Eastern Conference with the Boston Celtics.
The Sixers (49-23) are third, behind the Celtics (50-23), but have one game less.
Doc Rivers’ team hit 16 triples out of 37 and reached the break with over 50% accuracy from the arc, with twelve baskets that put victory on track.
De’Anthony Melton shone with 25 points and four triples, Tyrese Maxey contributed 21 with four triples, and Tobias Harris signed twenty, with three triples.
Embiid only played 16.18 minutes, with twelve points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
In the Bulls, DeMar DeRozan lived one of the most lackluster nights of his career, with four points and zero of seven shots. Zach LaVine had 16 points and Nikola Vucevic did not go beyond eight. Chicago’s best was Coby White, with 19 points.
The Bulls, who relaunched their postseason ambitions with a series of valuable victories over the past two weeks, beating the Denver Nuggets, Sixers or Timberwolves, couldn’t contain the Sixers’ momentum.
They never made it into the game and their chances of victory were over after just three minutes, when Billy Donovan called timeout with the 76ers already leading 17-0.
The Bulls scored their first point from the free throw line with 8.28 left in the first period and it took another ninety seconds before the first points came from the field goal. It was Nikola Vucevic, with a dunk, to break a drought that condemned Chicago.
The locals tried to react and cut the gap to 29-17 in that first period, but the 76ers scored easily from the arc and, with Maxey and Tobias Harris in front, went to halftime ahead 76-48.
That margin allowed Doc Rivers to give rest to an Embiid who would end his game with twelve points without wasting energy in the second half.
The 76ers are fighting for second place in the East and are now preparing for a series of high-demand games away from Philadelphia.
They will visit the Golden State Warriors, the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets before hosting Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks, hungry for victories after a results crisis.
The Bulls, despite the defeat, are ninth in the East, but a very difficult schedule awaits them between now and the end of the season.
They will now open a tour of the West with duels against the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, before returning to Chicago to face the Lakers again.
andrea montolivo
