CHICAGO — 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 leading a balanced attack, the Sixers had more than enough to get by without their two best players.
Dwight Howard scored a season-high 18 and grabbed 12 rebounds. Furkan Korkmaz added 16 points, and Tony Bradley scored 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 @sixers”.
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.
Matisse Thybulle capped an 8-0 spurt with a 3-pointer to make it 84-69 with 5:43 left in the third quarter, and the 76ers remained in control the rest of the way.
Milton hit a layup at the buzzer to start a 13-0 run, capped by a dunk by Howard’s alley-oop dunk to make it 108-85 with 9:40 left in the game.
TIP-INS
76ers: Doc Rivers coached the team after missing practice the previous day because of an illness. … Rivers said Embiid and Simmons have been working out on their own: “They feel great. I guess that’s the most important thing.”
Bulls: 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. “We just haven’t been healthy for a good portion of the year,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We haven’t had the full complement of players, so it’s good to have everybody back.” … GM Marc Eversley was hired out of Philadelphia’s front office last spring.
UP NEXT
76ers: Visit Washington on Friday.
Bulls: Host Miami on Friday.
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
