NBA Preview from The Sports Network
Wednesday, December 12th
(All times Eastern)
Chicago Bulls (11-9) at Philadelphia 76ers (12-9), 7:30 p.m.
(Sports Network) - The Chicago Bulls will have a quick turnaround on Wednesday
night when they head to the Wells Fargo Center for a matchup with the
Philadelphia 76ers.
The Bulls lost at home to the Los Angeles Clippers, 94-89, on Tuesday night.
That setback ended a three-game winning streak and a quick turnaround is not
helpful to this Chicago squad.
Under-manned already without the starting backcourt of Derrick Rose and Rip
Hamilton, the Bulls' starters log heavy minutes. Luol Deng and Joakim Noah
rank Nos. 1 and 2 in the NBA in minutes played and those two, plus Carlos
Boozer and Marco Belinelli, all went longer than 40 minutes Tuesday night.
The Bulls committed 17 turnovers against the red-hot Clippers and Los Angeles
scored 22 points off Chicago's miscues.
"When the ball moved, we were fine," said head coach Tom Thibodeau. "I liked
the way we played in the first quarter. When we started going one-on-one, we
are not going to beat good teams doing that. That put them in the open floor.
When you give a team like that lay-ups and dunks you are making your job twice
as hard."
The Bulls can took some comfort heading out on the road. They've won their
last three away from home and beat the Sixers, 93-88 on Dec. 1.
Philadelphia bested the Detroit Pistons, 104-97, at home on Monday. It was the
76ers second win in their last three and Philly has won its last two games at
home.
Against the Pistons, Jrue Holiday led the way with 25 points, 12 of which came
in the fourth quarter, and eight assists. Evan Turner chipped in 18 points, 11
rebounds and seven assists.
These two youngsters have really come on for the Sixers. Turner beat the
Boston Celtics late on Friday night and Holiday carried the load against
Detroit.
"Our guys have fought, and they've competed and they're growing up," said head
coach Doug Collins. "To see Evan and Jrue start to emerge as a backcourt that
can play like that together and really thrive, is very exciting."
Holiday, a front-runner for the Most Improved Player award, is averaging 18.0
ppg and 8.9 apg, while Turner is at 15.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 4.1 apg.
With the Brooklyn Nets loss to the New York Knicks, the 76ers are second alone
in the Atlantic Division. It's a pretty impressive feat considering not just
the youth of the Sixers two best players, but the fact that Andrew Bynum
hasn't seen the floor yet this season and admitted earlier in the week that
missing the whole season was a possibility.
The Bulls have won three in a row against the Sixers, including the victory
earlier this month. Chicago has lost four of its last six in the City of
Brotherly Love.
12/12 10:49:52 ET
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