The Philadelphia 76ers host the Chicago Bulls in their final game of the 2024-2025 NBA season. The Bulls will move on to the Play-In tournament and what they hope is a long playoff run, while the Sixers will be cleaning out lockers, saying goodbyes, and heading home at the end of a lost season.
Sixers game information
Who: Chicago Bulls (38-43) at Philadelphia 76ers (24-57)
When: 1 p.m. EST
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Watch: NBC Sports Philadephia
Latest on the Sixers
In a season that started with hope and promise, the train came loose from the tracks early on. If the team saw it, they didn’t mention it, and the thought was that it would all come around when everyone returned from their ailments. The problem was that no one returned. Four of the five opening-night starters are finishing the season on the injured list. Paul George and Joel Embiid failed to both open the season or close the season anywhere close to being healthy.
Through it all, the team saw the rise and eventual injury to rookie star Jared McCain; they saw Tyrese Maxey, who tried as hard as he could to put the team on his back and carry them, find a new level defensively and watched Guerschon Yabusele find his game on the biggest stage.
They’ve watched Justin Edwards and Adem Bona develop into legitimate NBA players that the team can count on for future years. They acquired Quentin Grimes, who has shown that he’s a legitimate NBA player while taking over for the rest of the injured squad. This team has faced more adversity than almost any other team in the league and will come out better in the long run.
Combined with the ascension of players like Edwards, Grimes, Bona, and McCain, the Sixers will be returning Maxey, Paul George, and Joel Embiid while adding a top-six pick in the draft (if all goes right with the lottery). While nothing is guaranteed, the team should be much better next season if the players can regain their health and finally compete for the title that has eluded them for more than forty years.
Latest on the Bulls
The Bulls have had just one good season over the past 25 years, and they’ve spent most of their time just hovering around the middle of the conference. Much like the Sixers, there is always hype and hope that is usually dashed by the middle of the Chicago schedule. While the playoffs or play-in are nice, the team hasn’t truly had a chance at winning a title since they lost in the conference finals 14 years ago.
The Bulls have Josh Giddey, who’s averaged 14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists on the season and, at just 22 years old, is probably the closest thing that the team has to a young star. With players like Patrick Williams, Talen Horton-Tucker, Coby White, and Matas Buzelis, the team does have a talented young core to build around. If Lonzo Ball had stayed healthy, he would still be young enough to be valuable and old enough to provide some leadership to the young players.
While this year is a continuation of the past 30 years for the team, the future does have a better outlook. While the young players they have can develop, they’ll be looking at a huge salary cap space after next season when players like Kevin Huerter, Nikola Vučević, and Lonzo Ball all have expiring deals. With development, the draft, trades, and some free agency luck, the team should be in a good position to claw their way back to the top of the conference in a short time.
What to watch for today
In a few years, when everyone is sitting around talking about their favorite Sixers memories, the night Jeff Dowtin scored 30 points against the Wizards in front of his family may not be mentioned by every fan, but it was a highlight this season, and more importantly for Dowtin. Names like Marcus Bagley, Alex Reese, Phillip Wheeler, and Jalen Hood-Schifino may not return next season.
For most of the players mentioned above, this could be the last time they’re in a Sixers uniform, in front of the home crowd and playing valuable NBA minutes. The discussion of the lost season may happen, but the team should be on to bigger and better things by then.
Next season, the team will return Embiid, George, Maxey, and McCain, so there will be no need for many, if not all, of them. The enjoyment will come from knowing that it’s over and that everyone can put this season in the books and close that book, then burn it and bury the ashes. But for a few of the names above, this could be a huge game.
If you still love and support the Sixers, as many still do, then you can appreciate what these young men have given the city despite all of the injuries and hard times the team has faced this season. They’ve gone out when called upon and given it all they could for as long as they could.
For players who shouldn’t and probably won’t again see this many minutes in future NBA games, this is the end of a great season. While you’re contemplating who the Sixers should draft or if they’ll keep their pick, take the time to appreciate some of these young men who stepped up when the stars couldn’t.
The players have tried their hardest, despite repeated failures, to win games and come back every night to try to bring some sort of happiness to the Philadelphia basketball fans.
Prediction
Sixers 107 – Bulls 112
