Five Things to Watch: Bulls host Embiid-less 76ers tonight on CSN

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Watch as the Bulls take on the Philadelphia 76ers tonight on CSN and streaming live on CSNChicago.com. Coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. with Bulls Pregame Live. Then stick around after the final buzzer to watch Bulls Postgame Live for highlights and analysis.

Click here to watch the game or download the NBC Sports App, your home for live streaming coverage of the Bulls.

Five Things to Watch

1. United or divided? Off the court drama continues to dominate the headlines for the Bulls and after Friday's ugly loss to Miami, which was playing without its best player in Hassan Whiteside, that's justified. The Bulls were flat in that game. Saturday after a practice the players and coach Fred Hoiberg were saying things that made it sound like the team may finally be on the other end of the drama, but the team has to prove it on the court. The Bulls will be playing at home against another sub-.500 team without its best player. Will this game be any better than Friday?

2. No Process. Speaking of the 76ers' best player, Joel Embiid will not travel to Chicago for the game. The 76ers have been cautious with Embiid's workload this season and this is another example of that. Embiid has emerged as a favorite for Rookie of the Year and is averaging just over 20 points per game in only 25.4 minutes per game. Embiid not being active should help the Bulls, but it's not all that different from Whiteside sitting out for Miami.

3. 76ers on a roll. Another similarity between Friday's matchup against Miami is that, like the Heat, Philadelphia is playing its best ball of the season. The young 76ers started the year 0-7 and 7-24, but have gone 10-4 in the last 14 games. A lot of that has been due to Embiid's emergence, but the 76ers are 2-2 during this stretch without him, which isn't awful considering.

4. Getting Butler back on track. Jimmy Butler had one of the worst games of his career in Friday's loss. He came off the bench and shot just 1-13 from the field for 3 points in 33 minutes on the floor. It goes without saying that the Bulls need Jimmy Butler playing like the All-Star he is to succeed. Whether it was simply a bad game or related to the off the court issues within the team, Butler needs to do better.

5. Just like in Philly. The Bulls already have a win against Philadelphia this season, the only meeting between the two so far this season. It came on Nov. 25 in Philadelphia and Embiid sat out that game as well. The Bulls won 105-89 in a game the Bulls led by 26 points entering the fourth quarter. Butler and Dwyane Wade both scored 26 points in that win.

[SHOP: Gear up, Bulls fans!]

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