After being disappointed with their effort in Friday nights loss to Portland, the Bulls (37-10) responded by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers (25-20) 89-80.
Fridays performance was so bad that head coach Tom Thibodeau criticized his players' preparation and concentration.
I think part of it is when things arent going well, were trying to do too much individually, said Thibodeau prior to the start of the game. More offensively, which is also leading to frustration on defense. Our health isnt what it should be, our on-the-ball technique isnt what it should be and we cant do that. We have to do things collectively both offensively and defensively and not get frustrated. Theres going to be ups and downs and we have to work through them. For the most part weve done that and we have to get back to that.
The Bulls outscored the Sixers 51-36 one night after being outscored 50-36 in the second half, including being limited to just 10 points in the fourth quarter.
C.J. Watson led the team with 20 points, tying a career high with four three-pointers made.
Chicago outrebounded Philadelphia 53 to 39 and has now won their last 15 regular season games following a loss.
Despite the focus on being on getting back to the right habits and being prepared, the Bulls looked anything but in the first quarter as they missed their first seven field goal attempts as the Sixers jumped out to an 11-0 run and took control with a 24-11 first quarter lead.
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Behind the Bench Mob tandem of John Lucas III and Taj Gibson, Chicago would close the deficit to 44-38 at the half.
Chicago would take its first lead in the game after a three-pointer by Watson broke a tie ball game with 5:13 remaining in the third period. The Sixers would take control of the scoreboard one final time before the Bulls closed the quarter on a 10-4 run, outscoring their visitors 26 to 15 in the period to take a 64-59 lead going into the fourth.
The Sixers would cut the Bulls lead to 79-75 with 3:30 remaining in the fourth, but the Bulls defense and some timely basket was all that was needed to secure the win.