Embiid, Curry lead short-handed 76ers past DeRozan, Bulls

Joel Embiid had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in his return to the lineup, and Seth Curry scored 22 points and hit a crucial jumper late to lead the Philadelphia 76ers over the Chicago Bulls 103-98 on Wednesday night.

Georges Niang added 18 points for the short-handed 76ers, who have won four in a row. In addition to Ben Simmons (personal reasons), who has missed all eight games, Philadelphia was without starters Tobias Harris (health and safety protocols) and Danny Green (hamstring).

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DeMar DeRozan tied a season high with 37 points for Chicago and grabbed 10 rebounds. Zach LaVine scored 27 for the Bulls, who nearly came back from a double-digit deficit in the second half for the second straight game.

Curry hit a tough elbow jumper with 10.7 seconds left to put the 76ers ahead 102-98.

“Once he gets open with Joel coming (to screen), it’s a tough cover,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s our best shooter.” “I thought we did a pretty good job,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “Give Curry credit.”

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Chicago, which trailed by 15 in the second half, erased its 12-point deficit to start the fourth quarter when DeRozan drained a 16-footer to tie it at 87 with 6:40 to play, as Philadelphia missed nine of 10 shots to begin the final period.

“Their defense got into us,” Rivers said.

But the Bulls went cold from that point, going 0 for 5 with a pair of turnovers until Alex Caruso’s dunk with 2:54 left trimmed Philadelphia’s lead to 98-91.

Embiid helped the Sixers build that advantage, scoring on a putback that made it 94-89 with five minutes left. Although he missed the chance to convert a three-point play, Embiid made a pair from the stripe the next time down and the 76ers were comfortably up 98-89 on Tyrese Maxey’s layup with 4:11 left.

The Bulls, who came back from a 19-point second-half margin in Monday’s 128-114 win at Boston, didn’t go away, though. Lonzo Ball’s 3 with a minute left and DeRozan’s baseline jumper pulled them to 100-98 with 29.9 seconds left.

It looked as though the Bulls would have a chance to get closer when Embiid was called for a foul on DeRozan, but officials reversed it after a replay review.

“It’s huge when your best player really wants to win that bad, and is willing to go up there and sacrifice a knee to the groin or elbow to the face and make a winning play,” Niang said. “That doesn’t happen everywhere, so Joel is special for making the winning play.”

Chicago trailed by 18 in the first half when Embiid hit a 16-foot pull-up jumper with 1:48 left before the break. DeRozan had one of the highlights of the first half with a one-handed dunk with 2:49 remaining.