PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers were locked in a battle with the Chicago Bulls on Monday night at home looking to continue their winning streak. They entered the contest winners of eight in a row and were looking to keep that streak alive.
In a game where it looked like the Sixers didn’t have much going for them, they were able to battle through poor offensive rhythm and they were able to rally from a seven-point deficit to force overtime.
Then, they forced a second overtime before losing superstar Joel Embiid to his sixth foul at the beginning of the second OT session. Philadelphia was able to eke out a 105-101 lead, but the Bulls rallied with Embiid off the floor and they won it 109-105.
The Sixers definitely missed Embiid’s presence late in the second overtime and the sixth foul did look a bit questionable, but coach Doc Rivers decided not to challenge it.
“It was a foul,” Rivers stated. “It was a foul. You don’t waste a time out. If it’s a sure foul. I mean, don’t waste your time out.”
Embiid then also admitted that he fouled Zach LaVine on the play. He did, however, bring up a foul call late in the first half when he was called for a blocking foul, but it looked like a charge.
“Yeah, it was a foul,” Embiid stated. “A couple—like the blocking foul to end the first half, it was a charge call. I asked them to review it, but it was a blocking foul. I mean, it’s the game. Just gotta be better.”
Embiid picked up his fifth foul with 6:16 to go in the fourth quarter and that limited his aggressiveness in the two extra sessions.
“It changes everything,” he stated. “They just kept tryna attack, and in that situation, I’m kinda valuable to my team so I got to pick and choose when to be aggressive.”
There were a few moments when Chicago certainly took advantage of the fact that he was not able to be too aggressive because of running the risk of picking up the sixth foul.
“You can’t be aggressive defensively,” Embiid finished. “Guys will go by you. You can’t really contest the shots and then offensively, you can’t be aggressive. You gotta stick to a bunch of jumpers and passing, but it is a game. I gotta play through it. In the first overtime, I didn’t touch a ball. I could have been more aggressive to go get the ball.”
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