Shorthanded Bulls outlast 76ers in overtime

The 76ers entertained another undermanned team Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

This time, the Chicago Bulls were without three injured starters in point guard Derrick Rose (right knee), shooting guard Jimmy Butler (left-elbow sprain), and center Joakim Noah (left knee) along with their sixth man, Taj Gibson (left ankle).

But unlike in Saturday night's win against the Atlanta Hawks, the Sixers were unable to capitalize.

Aaron Brooks had a lot to do with that.

The point guard finished with a game-high 31 points to lead the Bulls to a 104-95 overtime victory. Seven of his points came in the extra session. Meanwhile, the Sixers missed nine of their 10 shots in the overtime.

"I just had some open looks," said Brooks, downplaying his performance. "I was able to get layups off the pick-and-roll today.

"And the end of the game, the end of regulation, coach [Tom Thibodeau] drew up a good play. And I was able to get the shot off."

Brooks made a three-pointer in front of the Sixers bench to knot the score at 92 with 33.9 seconds left.

The game went to overtime after the Sixers' Isaiah Canaan missed a shot with 18.9 seconds left and Luc Mbah a Moute misfired with 1.9 ticks remaining.

Brooks and Pau Gasol took over in the overtime, combining to score Chicago's first 11 points.

Brooks opened the overtime with a driving layup. Then Gasol made an 18-foot jumper and a layup to make it a 98-92 game with 2 minutes, 32 seconds left. After the Sixers finally scored on Ish Smith's layup, Brooks scored the next five points.

A seventh-year veteran, Brooks made a layup with 2:09 remaining. Then his three-pointer at the 1:03 mark made it a 103-94 game. That was more than enough cushion against the Sixers (14-50).

"I was just making the right read," said Brooks, who scored 22 of his points after intermission.

The win improved Chicago to 40-26 and snapped its three-game losing streak. However, the Bulls have won five straight and 10 of their last 11 meetings against the Sixers.

Gasol (27 points, 16 rebounds), Nikola Mirotic (16 points, 12 rebounds), and Tony Snell (10 points, 10 rebounds) all had double-doubles for the Bulls.

Smith led the Sixers with a career-high 23 points in his first start of the season. He shot 3 of 7 from three-point range. Before Wednesday, he had made only 4 of 15 three-pointers in 38 games combined with the Sixers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Canaan, the Sixers' normal starting point guard, added 20 points off the bench.

Rookie center Nerlens Noel had eight points, 15 rebounds, four steals, and two blocks.

However, the Sixers offense was out of sync.

They attempted a season-high 41 three-pointers, making 11. The Sixers made just 36 of 104 shots overall and struggled from the foul line, going 12 of 25.

"I think the effort was there," Noel said. "If we make some free throws, it would've put us in a better position at the end of the game. But otherwise, everything was there."