Joel Embiid had 30 points and 15 rebounds to lift the Philadelphia 76ers past the host Chicago Bulls 114-105 on Saturday.
Furkan Korkmaz tied his career high with seven 3-pointers and added 25 points while Shake Milton had 13 for the short-handed Sixers, who won their sixth in a row and gave head coach Doc Rivers his 1,000th career victory.
The Sixers played without Ben Simmons (personal reasons), Danny Green (hamstring) and Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle and Isaiah Joe (all for health and safety protocols).
Georges Niang scored 12 points, Seth Curry added 11 and Tyrese Maxey and Paul Reed had 10 each.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 32 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points. Derrick Jones Jr. contributed 12 points and Nikola Vucevic had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Embiid’s 3-pointer from the top of the key capped a 15-0 run as the Sixers pulled ahead 47-38 with 4:06 left in the second quarter.
Embiid was fortunate that he wasn’t ejected after swinging his arms in frustration with 40.4 seconds remaining and grazing Lonzo Ball’s head. Instead of an ejection, Embiid was given a technical foul. Embiid was dominant in the first half with 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Sixers led 57-47.
LaVine paced the Bulls with 10 in the first half.
After falling behind by 13, the Bulls closed within 69-63 when LaVine hit a layup with 6:11 left in the third.
Korkmaz opened the fourth with a 3-pointer from the wing for a 10-point Sixers lead. DeRozan came right back with a difficult jumper for the Bulls.
DeRozan soon converted a four-point play when he was fouled on a trey from the corner. That cut the deficit to 93-87 with 9:16 to go.
When LaVine dropped in a 3-pointer with 5:48 remaining, the Bulls went ahead 97-96. Embiid hit a trey on Philadelphia’s next offensive trip to restore a two-point lead.
After the game was tied at 99, Embiid made a jumper and Korkmaz drilled his seventh 3-pointer with 3:02 left. Niang then hit a clutch 3-pointer for a 109-104 advantage with 1:21 to go.
–Field Level Media
