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Bulls Open Second Half of Season With Loss to Sixers

Tobias Harris scored 24 points and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls 127-105 Thursday night even though they were missing stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons for contact tracing.

 

With Harris and six other Sixers in double figures, the Eastern Conference leaders had more than enough to get by.

 

Dwight Howard scored a season-high 18 and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Tony Bradley chipped in with a season-high 14 on 7-for-7 shooting. The 6-foot-10 center also got this shoutout on Twitter from Embiid during the game: ''That's it!!! I've seen enough. Build around Tony Bradley (at)sixers''.

 

Furkan Korkmaz added 16 points, and the Sixers came out on top even though their stars were not available.

 

Embiid and Simmons both traveled to Atlanta for Sunday's All-Star game, only to learn the night before they were flagged for contact tracing. Though neither player tested positive for COVID-19, the barber they visited before leaving did.

 

Embiid, who scored a career-high 50 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in a win over the Bulls last month, is expected to return Friday at Washington. Simmons is to miss one more game.

 

Lauri Markkanen, back from a sprained right shoulder, led Chicago with 23 points. The 7-footer from Finland made all seven 3-pointers in his first appearance since Feb. 5.

 

All-Star Zach LaVine scored 19, and Coby White finished with 18 points. But coach Billy Donovan called it a ''huge step backward'' for the Bulls.

 

They were dominated in the paint 78-42 and committed 19 turnovers compared to just 11 for Philadelphia. It was just a listless effort overall.

 

The Bulls were basically at full strength with Markkanen and Otto Porter Jr. available. Porter had three points in 18 minutes after being sidelined since Feb. 1 because of back spasms. 

 

The Bulls host Miami on tonight.

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