Series In Rewind: Bulls and 76ers

It’s not often that a playoffs sees both the 6^th and 7^th seeds advance to the semi-final round, but these two squads aren’t your run-of-the-mill, ‘happy to be here’ playoff participants. Both organisations suffered consistent and lengthy injuries to their cornerstone players in Anthony Davis for the Bulls, and the King, LeBron James, for the 76ers. At full-strength, they are among the best teams in the league, so they were playoff beasts masquerading as whimsical playoff hopefuls.

Both teams are here to compete for titles and are built as such.

Who are they, you ask? Well… I’m glad you did.

The Chicago Bulls look back to their almost-best. Last season, they made the NSL Finals. The road since then hasn’t been as smooth as the previous season, but here they are and remain, as one of the final eight teams alive in the NSL. Davis, Beal and Wall are one of the leagues more talented trios and they boast one of the league’s best supporting casts, with a stable of impactful bigs (Whiteside, McGee, Zeller) and scorer/shooter guards in Mills and Lou Williams.




The Philadelphia 76ers don’t have the depth or scoring that the Bulls do. But they have LeBron James. The gritty 76ers were a winning team for the entirety of the season, except for the games LeBron was injured. With him, they are great. Without him, they aren't good. They are a gritty defensive team built around his scoring and playmaking. 

How did both teams get here?

During the regular season, these two teams played below their best. The first round of the playoffs saw the Bulls up against the New York Knicks, while the 76ers were pitted against the Charlotte Hornets.

The Chicago Bulls made pretty easy work of the Knicks, with New York only able to take one game off of the Bulls. Chicago were too versatile and big for the Knicks, albeit, across a series of competitive games. Beal went off for 35 points per game across the series, with six players scoring 9.8 points or more per game. 

Philadelphia had an even tougher match up against Luka Doncic and the Hornets. Buzz City accrued over 60 wins for the season in what was a big success for the building Hornets. The series looked to go as expected until LeBron was moved to power forward, and with that move, shifted the momentum towards Philadelphia. They would end up defeating the Hornets in six.

The Series

Game 1

The Bulls were the favoured team in this matchup, but no one told Ben and his 76ers. They came out and blasted the Bulls. The first iteration of matchups were revealed, with LeBron James at PF, Draymond Green at PG, Anthony Davis at SG and Brad Beal at SF – all somewhat out of position, but yeah, f*ckin’ 2k. The game was won across the second and third terms, with LeBron going HAM and creating the margin that would sustain. 76ers win 129 – 109. Merencio surely to make some changes.

Game 2

The counter-attack occurred, with Davis moving to small forward and swapping with Beal. The 76ers shortened their rotation to seven but kept the winning formula. The game was close throughout, but LeBron was playing like a god and keeping the 76ers in front. After a strong fourth, they would win the game and James would have 66 points. 76ers take a 2-0 lead in the series, winning both games in Chicago. Boom.

Game 3
No one would expect such a steep swing to occur after dominant 76ers performances, but no one would count Merencio out with all the work he puts into the 2k sim-lab. Davis was moved to his natural position of power forward and he played really well. Crazy, hey? Most of all, he stifled and halted the torrid run that LeBron was on (holding him to just 46). On top of the defensive boost, the Bulls looked as efficient and potent as they have thus far, winning easily, 138 – 116.

Game 4
An integral game to the series, to either take it to the brink or even it up. Both teams held firm with lineups and the result did, too. A close game the entire way, the Bulls pulled away late to take a closely fought seven point win. Beal continued to light it up from deep and Mills, Galloway’s veteran role play has really balanced the Bulls. 2-2.

Game 5 

Huge game, here. So far, no home team has won a game, yet. Back in Chicago, the Bulls stuck with the winning formula and 76ers were forced to change, moving Lebron to Beal and benching Danny Green, going big with Boban at C and Horford at PF. Would it be enough? In the traditional sense, of the team with the most points winning, no. It wouldn’t be. After a great first, 2k decided to f*ck with the 76ers and made them forget how to play. We have all been there. Davis would have his best scoring game of 39 points and push the 76ers to the brink of elimination.



Game 6 – Win or Go Home
At this point, the Bulls had wrestled all the momentum and the 76ers were on the cliff’s edge. A lineup change saw Etwaun Moore starting at point guard, providing shooting and LeBron shifted to the small forward position to guard Bradley Beal. Davis was dominating at the power forward spot and Draymond Green was sent to him. The Bulls went in unchanged from the previous game.

Philadelphia got off to a great start, leading after one and holding a 13 point lead halfway through the second quarter. LeBron was absolutely dominating their defensive matchups were working, until 2k decided they weren’t. The talented Bulls screened and shot their way back into the game by the half and dominated for the final 24 minutes. Beal ended up on 38 points and Wall had 21 off the bench. Davis only had to score 14 points in the comfortable 108-94 win. James scored 32 points for the 76ers, but like much of the season, they didn’t have enough scorers.




Congratulations to the Chicago Bulls on returning to the Eastern Conference Finals. Commiserations to the Philadelphia 76ers, and well done on a great season.