The Philadelphia 76ers (2-4) will be taking on the Chicago Bulls (3-3) on the second night of a back-to-back in Chicago. The Sixers look to string together consecutive wins for the first time this season after getting a blowout win against the Raptors in Toronto. Chicago meanwhile is coming off a loss against the young, scrappy San Antonio Spurs, who, early in this season, are showing that they have enough talent and grit to beat anyone.
Game Info
When: Saturday, October 29, 2022
Tipoff: 8:00 pm EST
Where: Chicago, IL | United Center
How to watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA TV
With DeMar DeRozan and the Bulls on tap Saturday night, will the Sixers be able to continue to right the ship? Check out three storylines to watch in tonight’s game:
Will Tyrese Maxey Stay Hot?
After an amazing preseason, Tyrese Maxey started off slow in the regular season. He started to get it going in the loss against San Antonio but had a down game against the Pacers. After a 31-point outing in the first matchup against the Raptors, he exploded for a career-high 44 points in last night’s win against the Raptors.
Maxey single-handedly dominated the Raptors and showed why everyone in the organization and players in the league are high on him. The Chicago Bulls aren’t necessarily known for their defense, so expect Maxey to continue to stay hot, with or without Joel Embiid in the lineup.
Sixers’ Continued Effort and Defense
The Sixers defense has been much maligned early on this season. There are new players and new schemes, but some nights it seems like the team isn’t interested in defense or putting much effort on that side of the court.
In last night’s win against the Raptors, the Sixers played much better defense. The zone defense helped hold the Raptors to 23% shooting from three-point range. Their effort to get back on the fast break was much better, although they still had up 16 points on the break. Hopefully, they can continue to turn the corner on defense with the offensive-minded Bulls coming up.
Embiid’s Recent Dominance Against the Bulls
Joel Embiid had the night off against the Raptors on Friday night due to right knee injury management, but it’s expected that he will play against the Bulls on the second night of a back-to-back. Embiid is 11-0 in his career against the Chicago Bulls, scoring 41.5 ppg in his last two matchups against the Bulls.
Embiid always seems to play well against Nikola Vucevic in their matchups, and that should change tonight. Embiid will play some minutes against former Sixer Andre Drummond, which will be a fun matchup as well.
