76ers, first in the East at 6-1, host a Bulls team on a four-game skid
The East-leading 76ers host the 1-5 Bulls on Monday. LeBron James and Joel Embiid were still listed out in ESPN's preview after sitting Saturday's win.
The Philadelphia 76ers bring a three-game winning streak and the best record in the Eastern Conference into Monday night's home game against the Chicago Bulls. Chicago arrives in South Philadelphia at 1-5 with four straight losses. Tipoff at Xfinity Mobile Arena is 7:30 p.m. Eastern, and the game streams on NBA League Pass.
The open question is who plays for Philadelphia. ESPN's game preview still lists LeBron James (back) and Joel Embiid (foot) as out, along with Dominick Barlow (back) and Ariel Hukporti, who is out for the season after an Achilles injury. Both stars sat Saturday at Charlotte as part of what the team called injury management. ESPN's Kris Rhim reported that James is being managed for low back and sciatica issues and Embiid for plantar fasciitis in his right foot, and that the club plans to stay careful with both on back-to-backs. Monday is not the second night of a back-to-back, so the team's own injury report will show whether the preview listings still apply.
The Sixers have already shown they can get by without one or both of them. They beat Charlotte 109-104 on Saturday without either star. Earlier, James missed a 127-116 win over Milwaukee and Embiid sat out the 106-93 loss to Detroit, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. James played Friday's 98-93 NBA Cup win over the Knicks with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, his first 20-point game in Philadelphia. Coach Nick Nurse called it "his best game" of the season, per ESPN. Jaylen Brown missed that Knicks game with left patellar tendinopathy and was listed as questionable for Charlotte.
Chicago has its own injuries. ESPN lists Nic Claxton out with a hamstring injury and Dailyn Swain day to day with a back problem.
What it means for Monday
Philadelphia is 6-1 and 3-1 at home, and the only home loss came against Detroit. The Sixers have scored 108.7 points per game and allowed 104.9, a margin of about four points. That fits how they have won: every victory has come by 11 points or fewer, and each game in the current streak, against Indiana, New York and Charlotte, was decided by five. This team has been closing out tight games.
Chicago is 13th in the East and 1-3 on the road, so Philadelphia should be the stronger side on paper. Last season's records point the same way. The Sixers finished 45-37, including 23-18 at home, while the Bulls went 31-51.
The matchup will come up again soon. This is the first of four meetings this season, and the second comes Nov. 8 in Chicago. Philadelphia's next two games after Monday are on the road, at Detroit on Nov. 4 and at Cleveland on Nov. 6. With that stretch coming, how the Sixers handle James's and Embiid's minutes on Monday matters beyond this one game.
