The 2024-25 Sixers keep reaching new lows.
Their losing streak hit a season-high eight games Monday night with a 142-110 defeat to the Bulls at Wells Fargo Center.
At 20-37, the Sixers are 12th in the Eastern Conference and trail the 10th-seeded Bulls by 2.5 games.
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The Sixers' top scorers were Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr. with 19 points apiece.
Bulls guard Josh Giddey had 25 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and three blocks. Kevin Huerter scored 23 points.
The Sixers began the night with five players out:
- Joel Embiid (left knee injury management)
- Justin Edwards (left ankle sprain)
- Eric Gordon (right wrist sprain)
- Kyle Lowry (right hip injury management)
- Jared McCain (left lateral meniscus surgery)
Embiid is set for further testing Tuesday and the Sixers expect to have more clarity on his status after that, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame.
Chicago’s sidelined players included Nikola Vucevic, Ayo Dosunmu and Patrick Williams.
The Sixers will visit the Knicks on Wednesday. Here are observations on their abysmal loss to the Bulls:
NBA-worst defense on display
Neither team made a rousing start defensively.
Guerschon Yabusele won the opening jump ball and Oubre slammed in a dunk four seconds later. Chicago then scored the next six points on a Huerter layup, a Zach Collins tip-in and a Matas Buzelis dunk.
Again, the Sixers opened the game like a team with the NBA’s worst defensive rating outside of garbage time since Jan. 1. Nurse used a timeout after Huerter’s three-pointer gave the Bulls a 21-12 lead.
The Sixers went on a 9-2 run after the timeout capped by George swishing a top-of-the-key three. The Tyrese Maxey-George duo scored half of the Sixers’ 30 first-quarter points.
The team’s continued defensive woes meant that 30 points wasn’t nearly enough to be on top. Though backup center Andre Drummond recorded six points and six rebounds in the first quarter, he struggled on several other fronts. Drummond committed two fouls in his first 58 seconds and was ineffective as a rim protector and pick-and-roll defender.
On Chicago’s final possession of the first quarter, Coby White drove past Drummond and converted an and-one layup. Two nights after allowing the Nets to drop 40 points in the first 12 minutes, the Sixers conceded 39 first-period points to the Bulls.
No shortage of wayward shots
The Sixers didn’t help their cause by missing a heap of jumpers.
They fell behind by as many as 21 points in the second quarter and started 3 for 15 from three-point range. Few of those misses were narrow, too. Plenty of shots were well wide or thudded hard off the rim.
Nurse expanded his rotation around the midpoint of the second quarter, adding Adem Bona and David Roddy. Drummond, Lonnie Walker IV and Ricky Council IV had been his first three subs.
Walker was among the Sixers who couldn’t get a jumper to fall. He's gone 2 for 14 from the floor over his first two games as a Sixer.
2 more Sixers on the sidelines
Yabusele was helped off the court 40 seconds into the third quarter and headed to the locker room. Drummond checked in.
A Sixers official said late in the third quarter that both Yabusele (contact to both eyes) and Quentin Grimes (right knee soreness) would not return. For the Bulls, Lonzo Ball (head laceration) was ruled out at halftime.
Whoever was on the floor, it became obvious the Bulls were on their way to a very decisive win. After Drummond air balled a close-range push shot long, Huerter sunk a corner three that put the Bulls up 93-65. The Bulls’ lead got as high as 50 points and the Sixers looked collectively checked out.
On paper, Monday's game was one the Sixers had a good chance to win. The Bulls entered on a six-game losing streak and, like the Sixers, didn't have their usual starting center and multiple rotation players.
Instead of righting the ship a tad, the Sixers turned in a terrible performance and Chicago scored its most points in a game this season.