Three reasons the Sixers won at Chicago

The 76ers began the second half of the season with an impressive performance Thursday night, despite a shorthanded lineup. Playing without All-Stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, who are quarantining seven days after coming in contact with a barber who tested positive for COVID-19, the Sixers had one of the more impressive wins of the seasons in a 127-105 victory over the host Chicago Bulls.

Here are three reasons for the victory:

With Simmons out, Matisse Thybulle earned a start and set the tone early with four first-quarter steals.

Thybulle made his biggest impact in the open court. Many of his steals often don’t come on the man he is guarding, but off the ball. He set a career high of five steals, all in the first half.

On this play, Seth Curry and Thybulle were double-teaming Zach LaVine. Curry poked the ball away, Thybulle retrieved it and was off to the races.

Thybulle was highly effective on offense, hitting all five of his shots, including three three-pointers, and scoring a season-high 13 points.

If somebody said that the Sixers received 32 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocked shots from the center position, you’d assume that Embiid had another monster game.

Those, though, were the combined numbers of Tony Bradley, who was the starter, and Dwight Howard. Both were relentless on the offensive glass, combining for six offensive rebounds, just two fewer than the Bulls.

Here is a look at Howard doing damage inside, scoring two of his season-high 18 points.

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During the game, Embiid voiced his support for Bradley.

The Sixers led at halftime, 64-57, which itself was a feat the way the Bulls were hitting threes. Chicago was 10-for-17 in the first half (58.8%). Coach Doc Rivers said after the game that the Sixers had to do a better job in the second half and they did exactly that.

Chicago shot 4-for-12 from beyond the arc over the final two quarters. The Sixers still couldn’t stop Lauri Markanen, who hit all seven of his three-point attempts, including three in the second half, but the Sixers were getting up on shooters better over the final two quarters and that helped cool off the Bulls considerably after their sizzling first half.