The Chicago Bulls competed in yet another close game on Friday night at the United Center, battling former MVP Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Chicago Bulls have repeatedly discussed how their depth stands as their greatest strength this season. Chicago is the fifth-youngest team in the NBA, and head coach Billy Donovan isn't afraid to go 10-11 players deep in his rotation on any given night. It works for a team that was second in the NBA in pace coming into Friday night. The Bulls speed, commitment to making effort plays, and depth, showed up in a big in Friday night's matchup, a very impressive 109-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Philadelphia held a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter, and looked to be headed towards a win as their superstar duo of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey was bludgeoning the Bulls defense, especially in the paint. Despite the dominance of Embiid and Maxey (58 points), Chicago actually ended up winning the battle of points in the paint, finishing with a +4 advantage. A major part of Chicago's win over Philadelphia and the former MVP was the play of their now infamous bench unit.
The Bulls don't have a superstar, and on any given night, Matas Buzelis, Tre Jones, or really anyone on the roster that you wouldn't consider a primary scorer, is capable of a random 20+ point night that can lift them to surprising wins in most regular season matchups.
On Friday night, it was a score-by-committee type of night, with six different Bulls scoring in double figures but no Bull finishing with more than 15 points in the close win. Donovan's use of Jones, and increased use of bigs Jalen Smith and Zach Collins continues to pay off big time for Chicago. Collins and Jones led Chicago in scoring with 15 points apiece, while Smith chipped in 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and one thunderous dunk.
Chicago showed the type of toughness that Donovan and the entire coaching staff has been wanting to see consistently. The Bulls limited the 76ers to an ice-cold 23.8% (5-21) shooting from the field in the fourth quarter, and closed out the game on a 10-0 run. A massive chunk of that run to close out the game was powered by Jones and Coby White, with the duo combining to shoot 6-10 from the field in the final frame as the Philadelphia offense floundered down the stretch.
On Friday night, the Bulls proved that they could win ugly, picking up a win in a low-scoring game in which both teams shot below 35% from the 3-point line. A win is a win, and more importantly for the Bulls, these are the type of wins you will need to be able to pull out if you care to move past the label of "Play-In team."