Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (17-28) are on the road this evening for a match-up with the Chicago Bulls (23-25), looking to rebound from a close loss on Friday to Houston. The Sixers will be without rookie center Joel Embiid, who scored 32 points against the Rockets after missing two games with a bone bruise in his knee. They went 2-0 with Embiid sidelined last week, beating the Bucks and Clippers, thanks to strong performances from their reserve centers.
The Bulls are currently 7th in the Eastern Conference playoff race and have lost four of six. The Sixers trail them, and the Hornets in the 8th seed, by 4.5 games heading into action tonight. Philadelphia has 10 wins in their last 14 games and five victories in their last seven.
Last Meeting:
Philadelphia fell to Chicago, 105-89, at home back on November 25 without Joel Embiid, the same situation that will present itself this evening. The Sixers only trailed by four after one, but Chicago extended their lead to 10 at the half and exploded in e third to take a 90-64 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes. Jimmy Butler scored 26 for the Bulls while Ersan Ilyasova's 14 led the Sixers, who shot under 40 percent. Robert Covington and Gerald Henderson combined to score just seven points on 2-for-11 shooting.
Drama in the Windy City:
While the Sixers continue to trend upwards with their young talent, it's the opposite in Chicago as the team struggles to find good leadership in the locker room. Following a collapse against the Hawks on Wednesday, Dwayne Wade and Jimmy Butler made some questionable comments that had them out of the starting lineup for the teams' next game.
Wade focused on the younger players, saying, "I'm 35 years old, man. I have three (NBA) championships. It shouldn't hurt me more than it hurts them. They have to want it."
Butler said his team doesn't deliver effort on a consistent basis and doesn't take losses as hard as it should.
"If you're not (mad) after you lose every game, something's wrong," he said. "This is your job. This is supposed to be what you love to do. Not everybody looks at it this way. I want to play with guys who care and play hard and want to do well for this organization, that want to win games." [ESPN.com]
Following their comments, Rajon Rondo posted a picture of him while he was with the Celtics and the caption was about the veteran leadership in Boston during his time there and how the leadership in Chicago is clearly in question. One line that was very telling in Rondo's post - “My vets would never go to the media. They would come to the team.”
McConnell, Ilyasova look to lead without Embiid:
Joel Embiid has been a gigantic part of the Sixers' success, which has them at 10-4 since December 30. There have been other contributors to the winning though, most notably TJ McConnell and Ersan Ilyasova. The Sixers have just looked like a better team with McConnell as the starting point guard and the former undrafted free agent is embracing the role. In 12 games since the start of the new year, TJ is averaging 8.9 assists per game, good for 7th in the NBA this month ahead of LeBron James and Steph Curry.
Meanwhile, up until Friday's game, Ersan Ilyasova had scored in double figures during 25 consecutive games. The 29-year old stretch forward has been a big contributor to the offense since being acquired and is averaging 15.8 points per game in January, shooting 42 percent from the floor.
Previous Game Rewind:
Sixers: Although Joel Embiid had an impressive night after returning from injury, it was James Harden's historic triple-double that led the Rockets to a 123-115 win in Philadelphia on Friday. Harden, a serious candidate for MVP, finished with 51 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists. He became the first player in NBA history to record two 50+ point triple-doubles in a season. 19 of his 51 came in the third quarter, where the Rockets were able to increase their lead. Embiid scored the first eight points of the fourth, pulling Philadelphia to within four with 11 minutes to play. Houston scored the next six though and the Sixers never got closer than four the rest of the way.
Bulls: A game after their late-game collapse to Atlanta, the Bulls punished two of their stars for their post-game comments, holding them out of the starting lineup in Miami against the Heat. The teams were locked at 53 heading into the half, but Miami held the Bulls to 35 second half points en route to a 100-88 victory. Goran Dragic led the Heat with 26 points and 11 assists. For the Bulls, drama continued with the loss. At one point in the second quarter, Jimmy Butler was frustrated and went to go sit on the bench without a substitute ready to come into the game. Dwayne Wade came off the bench to score 15, leading the Bulls scoring.
| Matchup Preview | January 29, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (17-28, 6-13 Away) |
Chicago Bulls (23-25, 14-11 Home) |
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Game Information:
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: United Center, Chicago, IL
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Stream Live: CSNPhilly.com, NBC Sports Live Extra*
*CSN must be a part of TV provider package
