Local Sports

Sixers Hold Off Bulls

Furkan Korkmaz topped 30 points for the second straight contest with 31, Joel Embiid had 28 points and 12 rebounds and Philadelphia beat the Chicago Bulls 118-111 on Sunday night to improve their NBA-best home record to 24-2.

 

Korkmaz made 12 of 17 field goals, going 6 of 11 on 3-pointers. He stayed hot after netting a career-high 34 points in Friday's 119-107 home win over Memphis in which he drained 13 of 17 shot and was 7 of 9 on 3-pointers.

 

Ben Simmons added 19 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for the 76ers.

 

Zach LaVine scored 32 points and Luke Kornet added 25 for the short-handed Bulls, who have lost five straight.

 

Embiid put Philadelphia ahead for good early in the fourth, breaking a tie to start the period with a short jumper and follow dunk that made it 87-83 with 11 minutes left. The 76ers kept the lead the rest of the way - although it wasn't exactly easy against the plucky and undermanned Bulls.

 

Chicago got within two points twice, but the 76ers finally got some breathing room on Tobias Harris' 3 that made it 104-95 with 6:22 to play. Korkmaz put it away with a two-possession sequence where he hit a 3-pointer and followed with a one-handed dunk that pushed him over 30 points for the second straight contest and made it 111-101 with 3:57 left.

 

Chicago has a long list of injured players: Lauri Markkanen (right hip) missed his eighth straight; Otto Porter Jr. (broken left foot) has been out since Nov. 6; Wendell Carter (sprained right ankle) has sat for 17 in a row; Kris Dunn (sprained right knee) missed his third consecutive game; and Denzel Valentine (strained hamstring) and Daniel Gafford (ankle) sat for the second straight game.

 

The Bulls are at Washington on Tuesday in their final game before hosting the All-Star festivities this weekend.

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