National Basketball Association
Preview
Philadelphia at Chicago
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 8, 2024
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George believes his team is starting to turn a corner.

After dropping 15 of its first 20 games of the season, Philadelphia carries a renewed sense of optimism into a meeting with the host Chicago Bulls on Sunday afternoon.

George supplied a team-high 21 points to go along with nine assists as the Sixers topped the Orlando Magic 102-94 on Friday night. KJ Martin added 20 points off the bench while starters Tyrese Maxey and Guerschon Yabusele each went for 16 in a victory that has George feeling good about the direction Philadelphia is headed.

"There's just a flow now," George said. "There's a flow that we can get to our plays, we can get to our spots, and everybody knows where they're at on the floor. So I think we just had to get through a lot of games. This is a new group to start out -- we just had to get some games under our belt to kind of iron out the wrinkles.

"Now we kind of know who we are."

Identity has been something at the front of Chicago's mind, too. The Bulls have been focused on shooting a high volume of 3-pointers, averaging 45.4 attempts from deep over their past 11 games.

Chicago went a stunning 21-for-50 (42.0 percent) from beyond the arc on Friday, but it still came up short in a 132-123 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

"You see who is in contention and doing things well and it's a numbers game now. More people are shooting 3s, so you have to try to match that," Bulls guard/forward Zach LaVine said. "There are more possessions, more people getting opportunities because the ball is being shared more. But some of it is predictable. Come down and shoot.

"I think this is our best way of competing."

LaVine poured in a game-high 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting against Indiana., including 5 of 9 from distance. Coby White contributed 19 points and nine assists, and Ayo Dosunmu posted 15 points.

Poor defense has been the main concern for Chicago, which has given up at least 124 points in four of its past five games.

"The biggest difference for us at this point is teams are taking a lot more shots than we are per game and they are generating more layups than we are per game," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. "We have got to find ways to eliminate the straight (wide-open) layups; those plays kill you."

Philadelphia might not be all that hard to stop, though, as the 76ers entered Saturday with the second-fewest points per game in the NBA (105.0).

Sixers coach Nick Nurse knows that means Philadelphia is probably going to have to rely on its defense, and he's starting to see improvement on that side of the ball.

"I just think they're playing together, there's good spirit, the energy's good," Nurse said. "The defense has certainly gotten a lot better. Our menu of what we can do defensively is getting bigger all the time."

Sunday marks the first meeting of the season between the 76ers and Bulls.

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W/L Strk Home Away Day Night Div Conf
Philadelphia 6-15 W1 3-8 3-7 1-0 5-15 1-2 6-8
Chicago 10-14 L1 3-8 7-6 0-0 10-14 2-4 8-7
Last Meeting
Philadelphia Chicago
Date Away Home Pts Reb FG% Pts Reb FG%
1/2/24 CHI 97 PHI 110 110 43 47.5 97 51 38.5
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Philadelphia J. Embiid 31 50.0 9
Chicago D. DeRozan 16 50.0 6
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Philadelphia J. Embiid 15 0 15
Chicago A. Drummond 17 10 7
Assists Player  
Philadelphia J. Embiid 10
Chicago D. Terry 7
Season
Points Player Total FG% FTM
Philadelphia T. Maxey 406 39.7 74
Chicago N. Vucevic 566 58.1 50
Rebounds Player Total Off Def
Philadelphia A. Drummond 205 71 134
Chicago N. Vucevic 275 56 219
Assists Player  
Philadelphia T. Maxey 84
Chicago J. Giddey 185
Quickchart Matchup
Philadelphia Philadelphia Off vs  Chicago Chicago Defense
Philadelphia Off vs Chicago - Points For 105.0 Points For
Philadelphia Off vs Chicago - Points Against 123.6 Points Against
Philadelphia - FG% 43.9 FG%
Chicago - FG% 48.7 FG%
Philadelphia - Reb 39.3 Reb
Chicago - Reb 45.8 Reb
Chicago Chicago Off vs  Philadelphia Philadelphia Defense
Chicago Off vs Philadelphia - Points For 119.9 Points For
Chicago Off vs Philadelphia - Points Against 110.6 Points Against
Chicago - FG% 48.1 FG%
Philadelphia - FG% 47.7 FG%
Chicago - Reb 44.5 Reb
Philadelphia - Reb 44.4 Reb