Sixers close 10-72 season with one more loss
CHICAGO - The 76ers can now exhale. Their season of disarray concluded Wednesday night in typical fashion. The Sixers had a commanding 21-point cushion with 2 minutes, 27 seconds left until intermission. Yet they still lost, 115-105, to the shorthanded Chicago Bulls in the season finale for both teams at the United Center.
CHICAGO - The 76ers can now exhale. Their season of disarray concluded Wednesday night in typical fashion.
The Sixers had a commanding 21-point cushion with 2 minutes, 27 seconds left until intermission. Yet they still lost, 115-105, to the shorthanded Chicago Bulls in the season finale for both teams at the United Center.
At 10-72, the Sixers finished the season with the second-worst record in franchise and NBA history. The 1972-73 Sixers finished the season at 9-73.
"You feel like the season is appropriately coming to an end," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "And it's time to move on. We've found some good things. We've realized some other things."
The Sixers knew their margin of defeat would have been much worse than 10 points if Chicago (42-40) didn't take it easy on them toward the end. And it came on a night when five Bulls regulars didn't play.
They rested starters Derrick Rose, Mike Dunleavy, and Paul Gasol. Meanwhile, Taj Gibson (rib contusion) and E'Twaun Moore (left hamstring) were sidelined with injuries.
As the Sixers showed, it doesn't matter who plays on the other team when you can't score.
Leading, 60-39, the Sixers missed four shots and had three turnovers as the Bulls went on a 19-0 run to pull within two points with 10:26 left in the third quarter.
Then after Nerlens Noel made a foul shot, Chicago went on a 10-1 run to take a 68-62 lead with 8:15 remaining in the third. The Bulls never looked back, opening up a 98-79 lead with 8:06 to play.
Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic finished with a game-high 32 points. Former Sixer Justin Holiday added a career-high 29 points. Jimmy Butler added a triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Robert Covington paced the Sixers with 27 points. Hollis Thompson added 21 and Jerami Grant 20.
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