Sixers Fall To Bulls 104-95 In Overtime
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Brooks scored seven of his season-high 31 points in overtime to help the short-handed Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers 104-95 on Wednesday night.
Pau Gasol had 27 points and 16 rebounds, and Nikola Mirotic finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls. They snapped a three-game skid without four regulars and three of their top five scorers.
Ish Smith led Philadelphia with a career-high 23 points, Isaiah Canaan added 20 and Robert Covington had 12. The 76ers have lost 10 of 12 overall and 10 of 11 against the Bulls.
The Bulls dressed only 10 players and were without Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah. That's nearly 57 points out of their lineup. Rose had knee surgery Feb. 27, but said Monday that hopes to return this season, targeting 4-to-6 weeks for a comeback from yet another knee injury. Butler (elbow) missed his sixth straight game, and Gibson (ankle) sat out his seventh in a row. Noah (knee) was a late scratch.
Brooks had 13 points entering the fourth quarter but got hot in the final 12 minutes of regulation and continued it in the extra session. His layup to start overtime broke a 92-all tie he hit a 3-pointer to make it 103-94 late in overtime.
The Bulls looked in command up 74-63 after E'Twaun Moore's layup to open the fourth quarter. But the 76ers surged in front with a 17-5 run. It remained close from that point, and Smith put Philadelphia ahead with a pair of free throws with 56.8 seconds left. After a Chicago miss, Jerami Grant made two free throws with 43 seconds left to give the 76ers a 92-89 lead. Brooks tied it with a 3-pointer from the wing with 33.2 seconds left.
Canaan missed a layup with 25 seconds left, but Snell turned it over on the Bulls' possession. Luc Mbah a Moute's 15-footer that would've won it went off the rim.
Philadelphia missed its first 12 shots of the second half and went 7:39 without a point. The Bulls only scored nine points over that stretch though and led 60-51 before Covington's layup finally ended the 76ers' drought with 4:21 left in the quarter.
Mike Dunleavy hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Bulls a 72-63 advantage entering the fourth.
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