Chicago Bulls

Four Takeaways From the Chicago Bulls Game

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:29 p.m. ET

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The Philadelphia 76ers were defeated 105-89 by the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Nov. 25 at the Wells Fargo Center.

With Joel Embiid sidelined, the Philadelphia 76ers were unable to come out with a victory on Friday night against the Chicago Bulls.

Instead, both Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade each dropped a game-high 26 points as the Bulls handled the Sixers 105-89.

The loss dropped the Sixers to 4-12 on the season, while the Bulls improved to 10-6 with the triumph.

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Ersan Ilyasova led the Sixers with 14 points and 7 rebounds (both team-high) while Nik Stauskas and Richaun Holmes both scored 13. Jahlil Okafor, who scored the Sixers’ first six points of the game, finished with just 10 points and five rebounds in a team-high 27 minutes of action.

In his first game as the team’s starting point guard, Jerryd Bayless netted 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists, while Hollis Thompson contributed 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting (3-for-3 on 3-pointers) in 20 minutes off the bench.

For the Bulls, Taj Gibson netted 12 points with 6 rebounds while Robin Lopez scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds.

The Sixers trailed by just 10 at halftime, but the Bulls blew Philly out of the water to start the second half and won the third quarter 33-17. The Sixers outscored the Bulls 25-15 in the fourth quarter, but by then, it was a case of “too-little, too-late”.

Aside from the box score, here’s four takeaways from Philly’s Friday night contest with the Bulls:

Oct 27, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Michael Carter-Williams (7) defended by Boston Celtics guard Terry Rozier (12) during the second half at the United Center. Chicago won 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

1 – The Carter-Williams Trade Was Highway Robbery

Chicago Bulls guard (and former Philadelphia 76ers guard) Michael Carter-Williams didn’t play on Friday night due to a wrist injury that will reportedly keep him sidelined for the next 4-6 weeks, but his presence in the City of Brotherly Love got me thinking.

As an organization, the Sixers received a lot of backlash when they traded Carter-Williams (for a future Los Angeles Lakers protected first-round pick) to the Milwaukee Bucks back in Feb. 2015. But nearly two years later, it’s clear that trading away the NBA’s 2014 Rookie of the Year was the right move for the team.

Sure, he had a nice rookie year in Philly, but since then, his production has declined across the board.

For reference, here are his per-game averages from 2014:

16.7 points, 6.3 assists, 6.2 rebounds, 40.5 field goal percentage, 26.4 3-point percentage.

And here are his per-game averages since his rookie season:

13.0 points, 5.9 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 41.6 field goal percentage, 24.8 3-point percentage.

Out of all of the major statistics, the only one that rose was his field goal percentage by literally 1-percent.

On top of all that, the Bucks traded MCW for Tony Snell earlier in the season. To put it lightly, no team in the league would even consider trading a first-round pick for Snell, and it’s become more clear than ever that the Sixers dealt Carter-Williams when his value was at its highest.

With the Lakers looking to be a more-than competent team for the first time in three years, the Sixers have a better shot than ever to land the now top-3 protected pick for the upcoming draft. If by chance they don’t, it’ll be an unprotected pick for the 2018 draft.

At this point, it’s safe to say that any team in the league would rather have a first-round pick than the struggling Carter-Williams.

It’s been almost two years since the Sixers’ former general manager Sam Hinkie made the deal, and with each passing day, it’s looking more and more like he committed highway robbery by getting a first-round pick for the 2014 Rookie of the Year.

Nov 19, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) in action against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Philadelphia 76ers won 120-105. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

2 – The Sixers are a Different Team Without Embiid

This isn’t exactly hard-hitting analysis, but the Sixers are a completely different team without Joel Embiid on the floor.

He’s played just 11 NBA games, but Embiid is unquestionably the Philadelphia 76ers’ best player. After missing his first two NBA seasons with foot injuries, he’s going to be rested from time to time in an attempt to prevent re-injury. This was the case during Friday night’s contest, and it was the fifth game this season Embiid sat out in order to rest.

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On both ends of the floor, he was missed.

Offensively, the Sixers didn’t really have a go-to guy. Defensively, they allowed the Bulls score 40 points in the paint to go along with 15 second-chance points.

Embiid leads Philly in rebounds (7.6), defensive rebounds (5.9) and blocked shots (2.4) per game, and it’s hard to imagine the Bulls would have had that much success around the basket had Embiid been active.

Taking Embiid’s starting spot was second-year big-man Jahlil Okafor, who played a team-high 26 minutes and scored just 10 points (sixth highest total on the team). Okafor had the Sixers’ second-highest rebound total on the night with six, behind Ersan Ilyasova and Dario Saric (who each grabbed seven).

It’s still unclear whether Embiid will be active Sunday at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers or Monday on the road against the Toronto Raptors, but it’s safe to say the Sixers will be happy to have him back on the floor in whichever game he plays.

Nov 25, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Nik Stauskas (11) dribbles against Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade (3) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Chicago Bulls won 105-89. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

3 – Stauskas Showing Severe Signs of Improvement

After a rough start to the season, Nik Stauskas has transformed into one of the Philadelphia 76ers’ most important bench players, and he’s improving every game.

Here are Stauskas’ per-game averages over the first seven games of the 2016-17 season:

6.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 42.1 field goal percentage, 33.3 3-point percentage.

Here are Stauskas’ per-game averages over the next eight games of the 2016-17 season leading into Friday’s contest agains the Bulls:

13.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 55.4 field goal percentage, 48.7 3-point percentage.

Simply put, his shooting and scoring have severely improved over the second half of Sixers’ schedule up to this point.

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Because of his uptick in production, Brett Brown has raised Stauskas’ minutes from 23 per game up to 27 per game over this period.

On Friday, he was second on the team in scoring with 13 points, third in rebounds with 5, tied for a team-high 3 assists and blocked a team-best 3 shots in 24 minutes of action.

When the Sixers traded the Sacramento Kings for Stauskas in July 2015, they did so primarily for the pick-swaps and future first-round pick. Stauskas was just a former lottery selection that the organization felt was worth taking a chance on at the time.

With each passing game, it’s looking more and more like Stauskas was worth the risk.

Nov 25, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade (3) passes past Philadelphia 76ers forward Robert Covington (33) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Chicago Bulls won 105-89. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

4 – Turnovers Continue to Haunt the Sixers

It doesn’t matter what level of basketball you’re playing: if you turn the ball over at a high rate, bad things are bound to happen. On Friday night, the Philadelphia 76ers again lost the turnover battle and it played a big role in their loss.

The Sixers, who lost by 16, committed 19 turnovers compared to just 12 from the Bulls. If Philly even cut that number in half, they would have had a much better chance to win.

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Coming into the game, the Sixers were averaging 17.1 giveaways per game (the second highest average in the entire NBA behind only the Atlanta Hawks) while forcing their opponents to turn the ball over just 13.5 times per game (17th best in the league).

Ironically, the team’s best player (Joel Embiid) leads the team in turnovers with 4.2 per game. The Sixers go as Embiid goes, and if he improves in the category, it’s presumable that the whole team will improve, as well.

Of the Sixers’ rotation players, only three are averaging less than one turnover per game: Gerald Henderson (0.9), Richaun Holmes (0.8) and Hollis Thompson (0.4).

If they want to start winning more games, they’ll have to do a better job of protecting the basketball.

Next up, the Philadelphia 76ers will host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, Nov. 27 at the Wells Fargo with the tip slated for 1:00 p.m. Let’s see if the Sixers can improve in the turnover category against LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the reigning NBA Finals champions.

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