76ers vs. Bulls: Stats That Stood Out on Friday
The Chicago Bulls did all they could to avoid falling into a 13-game slump against the Philadelphia 76ers. After the Bulls came up short against Joel Embiid and the Sixers in Chicago in late October, Philadelphia snagged its 12th straight win over the Bulls.
Chicago was at an advantage on Friday night. As Joel Embiid, who is undefeated against the Bulls in his career, sat out with a sore foot, the Bulls took advantage of the Eastern Conference All-Star’s absence.
Although the Sixers controlled the game early on by leading the Bulls by as many as 13 points, Chicago got out in front late in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 59-55 lead. In the second half, the Sixers didn’t have any answers for Zach LaVine and the Bulls, which led to a dominant 126-112 win in favor of the visitors.
Now, it's time for the analytics.
1. Zach LaVine’s Red-Hot Night
In 38 minutes of action, LaVine scored a game-high of 41 points. The Bulls star was highly-efficient from the field, draining 14 of his 19 shots and hitting on 11 threes.
With that performance, LaVine drained over 70 percent of his shots while scoring over 40 points for the second time this season. The first time he did it was against the Detroit Pistons on December 30. In that matchup, LaVine drained 75 percent of his shots while scoring 43 points.
2. Nikola Vucevic’s Dominance on the Boards
The Sixers have had their fair share of struggles on the boards, even when Embiid’s healthy. But without him on Friday night, Vucevic managed to snag a game-high of 18 rebounds.
In two games against the Sixers this season, Vucevic has collected a total of 37 rebounds. Only Atlanta Hawks big man Clint Capela has more rebounds against the Sixers this season with 51, which he achieved in three games.
3. Both Teams Caught Fire From Deep
It wasn’t all bad for the Sixers, who drained 44 percent of their threes on 41 attempts. It was just a much better showing for the Bulls from beyond the arc.
Chicago knocked down 59 percent of their threes on 34 attempts. The Bulls are just outside of the top five when it comes to team three-point percentage this year, as they’ve knocked down 38 percent of their shots. To say their Friday night showing against Philadelphia was an above-average night would be an understatement.
4. Georges Niang Climbing a Leaderboard
The Sixers’ reserve attempted seven shots from beyond the arc on Friday night, four of which went down. Going into Friday’s game, Niang already led the Eastern Conference with three-pointers made by a reserve.
He continued climbing the leaderboard, as he now totals 86 three-pointers on the year. Boston Celtics’ Sam Hauser is next in line with 65 threes in 39 games.
5. Montrezl Harrell's Finding Consistency
Roles off the bench are inconsistent in Philadelphia, especially when it comes to the backup center position. Sometimes, Doc Rivers rolls with Paul Reed behind Joel Embiid. Other times, he’ll go with Montrezl Harrell, who is the current favorite.
With Embiid off the floor momentarily, Harrell has continued to come off the bench but is seeing his minutes increase. As a result, he’s starting to find some of that usual offensive success for himself that was hard to come by when his minutes were inconsistent early on.
Following a 17-point outing against the Bulls on Friday night, Harrell scored at least 15 points in back-to-back games for the first time during his 34-game stint with the 76ers.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
