Chicago Bulls vs. Philadelphia 76ers Analysis: The Dario Saric Game

The Chicago Bulls hosted the Philadelphia 76ers in the third meeting between the two sides this season. The Bulls had a lot riding on this game, needing a win heading into a big weekend showdown with the Milwaukee Bucks.

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This game started with business as usual for Chicago, the same starting lineup that Hoiberg has used of late and Robin Lopez leading things off with a shot out of the post. The first point of the night was a made Nikola Mirotic free throw, but he split the two shots leading to a 1-0 lead. It led to the question: Was it going to be Good Niko or Bad Niko? He answered that by knocking down a 3-pointer on the next possession. And then another a few minutes later to push the Bulls to a 16-6 lead early.

Both teams were moving the ball and there were plenty of turnovers and a few transition scores early on. Rajon Rondo was on both ends of that as he continues to play for his 2017-18 contract. He threw the ball to no one for a turnover, but also used the old “off-the-opponents back” BLOB play and added an early steal, picking T.J. McConnell’s pocket.

Valentine was the first substitution for the Bulls, on for Paul Zipser. Zipser was getting to the rim quite well, but wasn’t having success finishing. Michael Carter-Williams, Bobby Portis and Joffrey Lauvergne all played a whopping one minute in the first quarter. Jimmy Butler started 5-for-6 from the field and had 11 points in the first. Mirotic was 3-for-6, but all three makes were 3-pointers, he finished the quarter with 10 points.

The second quarter was a major changing of the tide. The Sixers went on a huge run, at one point it was a 20-6 run, and when from trailing by 10 points early in the game to leading 38-32 midway through the second. All kinds of things were to blame. It was a lot of things. Lauvergne trying to finish a failed alley-oop connection instead of kicking out to a wide-open Zipser beyond the 3-point line. Denzel Valentine getting lost in off-ball screens. Rondo figuring out a way to turn the ball over on a 2-on-1 breakaway. Valentine missing a wide-open corner 3. Robert Covington going off for Philadelphia. And on and on.

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The slump by Chicago was very real. Case in point: Shawn Long, who our own Hunter Kuffel had to Google to figure out who he was, had a game-high plus-14 in seven minutes for the Sixers. It didn’t slow down for the Bulls, as the 76ers continued to hum and push their lead from down 10 points in the first to up 10 points in the second, 51-41.

Chicago started out doing things right and benefiting from a lot of turnovers, but Philly tightened up their ballhandling and the turnovers went away while the score kept going up. Sergio Rodriguez was out of control in the first half. He had 12 points and six assists off the bench in 13 minutes. The bench for the 76ers was out of control. The first three Sixers to reach double figures in scoring were bench players. It was ugly. The Bulls trailed by as much as 15 a couple of times, finished the first half trailing 59-46.

The savagery continued in the second half. The Sixers started the quarter on an 8-1 run and then just kept pushing and pushing. Dario Saric was basically unstoppable and the lead just kept growing and growing.

To say Chicago was “gutted” would be both figuratively and literally accurate. They didn’t show a single ounce of fight, and certainly didn’t appear like they wanted to win. They looked like they just got punched in the mouth and didn’t want any part of a clapback. They were literally gutted by giving up more than 60 points in the paint by the time this game was halfway through the third quarter. It never really got worse or better the rest of the way. They trailed by as much as 26 and everyone except for Butler looked very bad. It was 93-71 at the end of the third quarter.

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I wouldn’t have believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but the Bulls made a run in the fourth quarter. And it had a lot to do with Bobby Portis, mostly a non-factor earlier on. Chicago started the fourth on a 21-9 run. It wasn’t all Portis. Another unlikely contributor emerged – Anthony Morrow. It was all they could do to hang on as long as possible.

On the defensive end, it seemed like Butler was going to be needed to slow down Saric at all. However, Saric kept getting free and the Bulls kept getting switched or getting mismatches and never switching back. Butler stopped Saric. Then Saric bullied Valentine and left Carter-Williams laying on the floor while he knocked down a huge 3-pointer. Then Butler was on him and then a switch and Saric went up over Valentine again, getting a shooting foul called for him. The Bulls did an embarrassing job of managing their defensive assignments and the Sixers steadied themselves after the Chicago run.

Saric put the Bulls away thanks to a huge 32 point, 10 rebound performance – the highest-scoring effort from any rookie this season. Butler seemed completely gassed, allowing Saric to blow right by him late in the fourth.

It’s been a rough week. First the Raptors snap their 11-game losing streak to the Bulls and now the Sixers end their 12-game losing streak to Chicago. Are the playoffs even worth it at this point?