The Sixers will face a struggling, injury-plagued Chicago Bulls team tonight
The Bulls have lost three in a row and 10 of their last 14 games.
The last thing that 76ers coach Doc Rivers and his players wanted Sunday was an extra five minutes of action before boarding a plane from San Antonio to Chicago for a Monday night game against the Bulls.
The Sixers prevailed, 113-111, in overtime against a San Antonio team that showed plenty of fight despite playing without four starters.
Back-to-back games in different cities are challenging enough. An extra few minutes only adds to the toll against a Chicago team that had a day off after Saturday’s 108-97 loss in Atlanta.
After playing Monday, the Sixers will return to Texas to face the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Let’s just say that Rivers isn’t a big fan of the coming schedule.
“It is just the worst scheduling of the year,” Rivers said after Sunday’s game. “We’re 45 minutes from Houston, and then we are going to fly to Chicago and play Chicago, and then fly back to Houston. It makes no sense, but it is what it is.”
Rivers understands this is the price of playing in the NBA.
“I am sure every team has had one of these or two of these during the year, and we’re just going to have to buck up and win the game anyway,” he said.
What should help is that the Bulls (26-38) have lost three in a row and 10 of 14. Chicago entered Monday three games out of the 10th and final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
All-Star guard Zach LaVine has missed 10 consecutive games while in the health and safety protocol. The Bulls are 4-6 in those games. He is listed on the NBA injury report as doubtful for the Sixers game.
» READ MORE: Sixers’ Ben Simmons playing at high level since return. But he’ll be judged by what he does in postseason
Former Sixer and two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic, who was traded to Chicago from Orlando at the March 25 deadline, missed Saturday’s game in Atlanta and is questionable with right adductor tightness.
Troy Brown Jr. is out with a left ankle sprain.
Besides the injuries, the Sixers are facing a young Chicago team that is prone to mistakes. Chicago is 27th in the NBA in turnover percentage at 15.3.
Second-year guard Coby White is averaging 14.8 points and 4.7 assists. Lauri Markkanen is averaging 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds, but the fourth-year forward has not taken his game to another level.
The Sixers (43-21) have a half-game lead over the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference and have won four in a row, all against teams having suffered key injuries. The Sixers have eight games remaining.
“We only have a few games left until we hit the playoffs, so hopefully these few games give us that energy and motivation to finish at the top of the East so we’ve got something to look forward to,” said Ben Simmons, who scored the winning basket against San Antonio on a tip-in at the buzzer and drew two key charges in the overtime. “We’re excited. We have good energy and good spirits, so we are looking forward to playing.”
All five Sixers starters played 34 or more minutes against San Antonio.
» READ MORE: Sixers' Dwight Howard getting more of an offensive mentality
Rivers talked before the game of treading that fine line of winning games while also keeping the Sixers healthy for the postseason.
The Sixers are 2-0 this season against the Bulls, but they have played one competitive game and one rout. In a 112-105 home victory on Feb. 19, the Sixers needed 50 points and 17 rebounds from Joel Embiid.
During the first game after the All-Star Game break on March 11, the Sixers won a 127-105 decision in Chicago behind 24 points from Tobias Harris. The Sixers played without Simmons and Embiid, who were out because of COVID-19 contact tracing.