Philadelphia 76ers romp to huge 98 – 82 win over mighty Chicago Bulls – NBA Recap
The Philadelphia 76ers are flying high right now and with a win over the Chicago Bulls now under their belt, they have to be taken seriously. The 76ers turned in a stupendous performance at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia to beat the Bulls 98 – 82
and send the home support into frenzy.
The 76ers have a fine record so far in the shortened NBA season but critics have pointed to their relatively easy early schedule as the primary reason. It’s an allegation that refused to go away as Sixers coach Dough Collins said after the game.
"`Who've you beat?' I heard that. `Inferior teams,' I heard that," coach Collins said.
He won’t have to contend with such talk anymore after toppling the best in the east, and in what style.
The 76ers were on top of their game against a Bulls side that doesn’t give an easy ride to anyone. Philadelphia went ahead early on and never looked back, a terrific team performance to credit for that.
5 Sixers’ players got into double figures, 3 of them from the bench. Andre Iguodala led from the front once more, garnering a team high 19 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Point guard Jrue Holiday scored 17, Thaddeus Young had 19, Lavoy Allen 15 and Louis
Williams with 14.
After the game, Andre opined that it was time people started to stand up and take notice of the good things Philadelphia were doing.
"I don't think we've gotten the respect yet from the outside," Iguodala said. "We're starting to get there."
They certainly made an impression on Chicago.
"They're right there with everyone else," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Very impressive."
"They're a very good team," said Derrick Rose, the reigning NBA MVP.
Rose wasn’t able to make a dent against Philadelphia all night long. The celebrated point guard had to contend with just 18 points and 6 assists. C.J. Watson came off the bench for Chicago to provide game high 20 points and keep his side in the contest.
Other than these two though, no one in a Bulls jersey got into double figures.
While the game started off pretty evenly, the 76ers slowly got a foothold in the first quarter. They ended up above at 27 – 21 after an 8 – 2 run to finish off the segment.
The second was a more even contest, as both teams turned up the intensity and easy buckets were few and far between. Chicago scored 23 points but Philadelphia garnered 22 themselves, conserving their lead going into half time at 49 – 44.
The match got away from Chicago after the interval as the Sixers came out all guns blazing. Their defence was like a wall of steel and Chicago failed to get past, scoring only 11 points in the third period. In contrast, the 76ers piled on 26 points; going
into the final period firmly in control.
The Bulls tried but weren’t able to trouble the solid Philadelphia outfit in the penultimate quarter. The Sixers were comfortable and watched the clock tick down to a glorious and memorable win 98 – 82.
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