Bulls roll past Joel Embiid-less Sixers 126-112 as home winning streak ends

The clock is ticking on the 76ers’ season.

Friday’s 126-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls at the Wells Fargo Center marked their 38th contest of an 82-game season. It also was their 32nd game without their season-opening starting lineup intact. This time, perennial All-NBA selection Joel Embiid missed his second consecutive game with a sore left foot.

That’s far from ideal for a squad with several new additions and NBA championship aspirations. The Sixers would love to get into a rhythm with a full squad. Yet they’re running out of quality time to do so.

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Sixers coach Doc Rivers talked to a good friend and NBA coach late Thursday night about the same thing.

“It’s tough,” Rivers said. “But as I said to him, there’s nothing you can do about it. If guys are not ready, you can’t rush them. And you have to make do with what you have, and you have to try to figure out a rhythm with the guys that are playing. And then try to find a silver lining.”

The emergence of Shake Milton as a key piece has been a silver lining for over a month. But Montrezl Harrell’s play during Embiid’s absence also has been a bonus.

But for the Sixers (23-15), the only real positive of this game was the play of Tyrese Maxey. The shooting guard finished with a team-high 26 points while making 5 of 7 three-pointers in his fourth game back from a fractured left foot.

Standout James Harden struggled to make shots through three quarters. And the Sixers felt Embiid’s absence on this night when two winning streaks were snapped.

This marked their first home loss in 12 games. The outcome also snapped their 12-game series winning streak against the Bulls (18-21).

“You miss him all over the floor,” Rivers said. “But, honestly, I don’t worry about it because he wasn’t in the game. Obviously, with Joel, we are a different team. But we don’t have him. So we have to find a way to go win that game tonight without guys.”

Instead, they were doomed by an inability to stop Zach LaVine and Nik Vučević.

LaVine led all scorers with 41 points while making season-high 11 three-pointers in 13 attempts. The shooting guard also had six assists, two steals, and a block. He did most of his damage in the third quarter, scoring 19 points while making 5 of 6 threes.

“It was him making shots, and us not playing very good defense like we normally do or we normally have been,” Harden said. “If he gets those same looks and he misses them, I don’t know if that’s good defense or it’s a different ballgame.

“He makes them, they go up double-digits, so a combination of both ...”

Meanwhile, Vučević had a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 assists. His impact was felt from the start. The two-time All-Star had nine points and seven rebounds in his first nine minutes and 14 and 12 at the half.

Vučević, a former Sixer, got whatever shot he wanted.

And the Sixers were crushed by Bulls play in the second and third quarter. Chicago ended the half with a 18-9 run, holding a 34-25 scoring edge in the second quarter. Then Patrick Williams scored 16 points on 7-for-7 shooting helped them outscore the Sixers, 40-29, in the third quarter.

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Meanwhile, Harden came close to notching a triple-double. The perennial All-NBA selection had 17 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds. However, he made just 4 of 17 shots, including missing 6 of 9 three-pointers. Harden missed his first nine shots. His first basket didn’t come until 50.8 seconds left in the first half.

To his credit, Harden hit two huge three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Sixers get back into the game.

“It was a tough night,” he said. “I feel like there was a lid on the rim. I mean, that’s just part of it. Just chalk it up. Keep pushing.”

Tobias Harris had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. And Harrell added 17 points off the bench after finishing with a season-high 19 on Wednesday.

This marked the 10th game Embiid missed because of the flu, right knee recovery, a sprained left foot, and left foot soreness. The Sixers are 6-4 without him this season.

Rivers was asked how Embiid is doing, and how long he expects him to be out.

“He’s doing better,” the coach said. “But I don’t know the answer to the second part. He’s just working his way back. … We’ll evaluate what he’s going to do going into Detroit.”

The Sixers travel to Detroit to face the Pistons at 3 p.m. Sunday.

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The Sixers started a small-ball lineup of De’Anthony Melton, Harris, P.J. Tucker, Maxey, and Harden for the second straight game.

In the first half, Tucker played timid on offense, making several of their Sixers’ half-court possessions tough to watch. At times, it was like they were playing four-on-five. More of a blue-collar role player, Tucker usually spots up in the corner or sets picks for teammates. But he passed up several wide-open scoring opportunities and looked out of sync.

Tucker played a little better after intermission, even scoring an 8-foot jumper 1 minute, 48 seconds into half. However, he was only played the first 5:23 in the second half. As a result, this marked the third straight game the 37-year-old didn’t play in the final session.

Tucker played 2:58 of the fourth quarter in Wednesday’s overtime victory against the Indiana Pacers. However, he didn’t see any action in overtime. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter of Monday’s victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

On Friday, Tucker attempted three shots on the night, making one, and finishing with two points. This marked the third straight game Tucker didn’t play in the fourth quarter.