By Dylan MacKinnon
The Sixers finished a Sweep of the Bulls. Four games played, four games won. This time it was a 121-106 victory that carried them over Chicago. It makes it 11 wins in a row for the Sixers over the Bulls.
The @sixers have now topped the @chicagobulls in 11 straight matchups, dating back to April 6, 2019. It’s tied for the longest active win streak by one team over another in the @NBA.@JoelEmbiid is 11-0 all-time against Chicago.
— Sixers Stats (@SixersStats) March 8, 2022
h/t @EliasSports
Things seem to run much smoother when James Harden is on the court. After an ugly loss vs the Heat Saturday night, the Sixers get back on track with a dominant win over the Chicago Bulls. After shooting just 17% from deep in Miami, they hit 40% of their 3’s tonight, and 48.8% overall. Harden’s presence and passing ability had a clear impact on the team. Though this game did end their streak of Maxey, Harden, and Embiid each scoring 20 pts. Embiid was the lone Sixer to cross that mark tonight. Harden made up for it with 14 assists.
Embiid took some heat this weekend for his performances vs the Heat and Cavs. But no one can question his play in this one. He almost reached 40 pts before the end of the 3rd quarter. Embiid finished the game with 43pts, for his 10th 40pt, 10 rebound game this season. He continues to make a very strong case to win MVP. Here is one example of how well he played tonight.
Tonight's Call of the Night went "Right Down Broad Street," as @McGinnisThomas likes to say. Joel Embiid with a powerful dunk off a James Harden Assist, that lifted the @sixers to a 121-106 victory! pic.twitter.com/1nQ4MfnxPP
— 975TheFanatic (@975TheFanatic) March 8, 2022
One noticeable Doc Rivers choice tonight was to give Isaiah Joe Furkan Korkmaz’s minutes. After the game Rivers said it was time to give Joe a chance given Korkmaz’s struggles and because Joe had worked hard.
After the Sixers finished a sweep of the Bulls, they hold onto the 2 seed. They improve to 40-24 and move 1.5 games ahead of the Bulls, and .5 games over the Bucks. They trail the no.1 seed Heat by 2.5 games. The Sixers have two nights off before they face the Nets on Thursday. However, Ben Simmons is not expected to play, but he is expected to be with the Nets courtside for the game. It will be a National TV game, which is sure to have many eyes on it. Harden will take on his former team, and Simmons will watch his new team take on his old one. That game will tip at 7:30pm Thursday night.