Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – No Derrick Rose again, no problem.
Although the Chicago Bulls had to fend off the shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers
in the closing minutes.
Mike Dunleavy had 27 points and the Bulls hung on for a 118-115 victory over
the 76ers on Friday night.
Trailing by as many as 18 in the second half, Hollis Thompson and Chris
Johnson hit 3-pointers in less than a 10-second span to cap a 13-3 flurry and
pull the Sixers within a point.
After Thompson hit his three with 14.9 seconds remaining, Kirk Hinrich missed
two foul shots and Johnson swished a left corner trey to cut the deficit to
116-115 with 5.9 ticks on the clock.
Hinrich then sunk two free throws with 2.1 seconds to go and Johnson’s
halfcourt heave at the buzzer was well short.
Philadelphia played Friday’s game with just nine healthy players.
Rose is still day-to-day with two sprained ankles and prior to the game, Bulls
coach Tom Thibodeau did not rule the star point guard out of Saturday night’s
game against the Boston Celtics.
Rose originally sprained his ankles during last Friday’s overtime loss to the
Cleveland Cavaliers and returned in Wednesday’s game against the Milwaukee
Bucks before tweaking the ankles.
Jimmy Butler posted 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Pau
Gasol added 17 points and 12 boards for Chicago, which has won all three of
its games without Rose this season.
His backup Hinrich tallied 13 points and seven assists in the triumph.
Tony Wroten netted 31 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds for
the Sixers, who are one of two winless teams — the Los Angeles Lakers are the
other — in the NBA.
The game was tied 57-57 at the break before the Bulls began the third on a
21-5 run to seize control of the contest.
Dunleavy nailed a trio of 3-pointers and netted 11 points during the burst,
which was capped on Butler’s putback layup to give Chicago a 78-64
cushion a little past the midway point of the frame.
Chicago outscored Philadelphia 35-19 in the period and led 92-76 heading into
the fourth.
Earlier, Chicago took a 33-28 margin into the second before the Sixers started
that frame on a 19-6 burst.
Henry Sims put in six points during the swing, which he ended with a putback
layup for a 47-39 Sixers advantage halfway through the stanza.
Chicago closed the half on an 11-3 run to knot the tilt heading into the
break.
Game Notes
Chicago shot 51.3 percent (40-of-78) from the field and 12-of-24 from beyond
the arc … Thompson had 21 points and Luc Mbah a Moute provided 16 points
and 11 rebounds for the Sixers.
