James Harden-Less 76ers Collect Blowout Win vs. Bulls

Without James Harden, the 76ers found success against the Bulls on Wednesday night.

The Philadelphia 76ers went into Wednesday night’s matchup with a short memory. After playing flat for nearly four quarters and two overtime periods, the Sixers took on a loss against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, which was their first defeat in nine games.

On Wednesday, the two teams met once again, except this time, the Sixers traveled to the Windy City to pay a visit to the Bulls. After playing flat offensively on Monday, the Sixers looked like a completely different team on Wednesday, and they did it without their starting guard, James Harden.

A little less than halfway through the first quarter, the Sixers held a 23-5 lead over Chicago. While the Bulls managed to cut the lead down to 12 points early on, there was no turning of the tables.

The Sixers were on the road to blowing the Bulls out, and they never took their foot off the gas pedal.

Going into halftime, the Sixers possessed a 76-48 lead. When they came out for the second half, Sixers center Joel Embiid was not on the floor. Instead, the Sixers started Paul Reed in his place.

As the third quarter winded down, it was announced on the broadcast that Embiid was unlikely to return as the game was out of reach. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, it was eventually reported that Embiid was dealing with calf tightness.

The Sixers don’t seem overly concerned with Embiid’s recent setback. And the team took care of business in his absence. While Chicago outscored the Sixers slightly in the second half with a 43-40 run, the game was far out of reach for the Bulls. 

The outing wrapped up with the Sixers collecting a 116-91 victory.

“The two things we did; Tyrese Maxey picked the ball up full court and pressured the ball, which slowed their offense down," Doc Rivers explained. "Then we just made simple plays. We passed to the open guy. Joel had seven assists at halftime. They are a great defensive team. They load up, and they force you to pass the ball. If you pass the ball, then you have a chance. If you don’t pass the ball against them, they’ll eat you up. The other night, we didn’t pass the ball. Tonight, we passed the ball.”

Philly’s starting backcourt duo of Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton combined for 46 points. The starting forward Tobias Harris had one of his better outings as of late, scoring 20 points and teasing a triple-double with eight assists and nine rebounds.

With their second win over the Bulls this year, the Sixers are one step closer to collecting 50 wins as they advance to 49-23 on the year. Next up, they’ll take on the Golden State Warriors on Friday night.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.