It’s Finally Over — 76ers Lose To Bulls 122-102 In Season Finale, Finish 24-58
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
The season from hell is officially over, 76ers fans.
After entering the year with championship aspirations, the Philadelphia 76ers officially wrapped up their disappointing 2024-25 season with a 122-102 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The team went all in last offseason, signing Paul George and picking up valuable assets in Jared McCain and Guerschon Yabusele. However, injuries have decimated this and have caused them to “tank” for the majority of the season.
Leading the way for Philadelphia was Lonnie Walker IV, who has looked impressive during the last two months of play with the 76ers. Walker finished with 31 points, six rebounds, and two assists, drilling eight threes in the process. Marcus Bagley finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds, posting his second consecutive double-double. Jared Butler also added 19 points, while Adem Bona provided 16 points and nine rebounds.
For the Bulls, Kevin Huerter led the way with 18 points, drilling five threes. Off the bench, Talen Horton-Tucker added 17 points and six assists while Jalen Smith posted 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Patrick Williams also played well, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds.
As the game tipped off, Walker IV made his presence known early on with back-to-back threes. Huerter answered back with a three of his own. Julian Phillips and Bagley then traded dunks, and Huerter and Matas Buzelis each hit a layup.
The Bulls continued to knock down shots with Philips slamming another dunk and Huerter hitting another three. Butler and Bona then answered back each with four points of their own. Nikola Vucevic entered the scorebook with four straight points, and Huerter stayed hot, knocking down three with his third of the quarter.
With just over two minutes left in the quarter, Dalen Terry and Smith hit back-to-back shots, extending the Bulls’ lead to six. Ricky Council IV then hit a pair of free throws, Bagley hit a layup and a pair of free throws, and Jalen Hood-Schifino hit a floater. Smith knocked down another shot that tied the game at 29 after 12 minutes.
At the start of the second quarter, Buzelis and the newest 76er, Isaiah Mobley, traded threes. Talen Horton-Tucker made a layup for his first bucket, but back-to-back threes from Council and Walker gave the 76ers a four-point lead.
However, Huerter continued to knock down shots. He drilled back-to-back three-pointers and added a free throw for seven straight points. Bona and Horton-Tucker traded dunks, but Butler knocked back-to-back mid-range jumpers and Walker slammed a dunk to go back up three, forcing a Bulls timeout.
Out of the timeout, Vucevic hit a jumper, but Walker drilled another three, and he and Butler both knocked down floaters. Trailing by nine with under a minute until half, Vucevic and Coby White each drilled twos to make it a five-point game. Just before the final buzzer went off, Butler hit a tough layup to make it 56-49 76ers heading into the half.
At the start of the second half, Zach Collins kicked things off with a pair of free throws and a long three. Philips and Bona traded dunks, but Horton-Tucker and Williams both knocked jumpers to retake the lead. The Bulls then extended the lead thanks to a three from Philips, another two from Horton-Tucker, and back-to-back threes from Williams and Jevon Carter.
Quentin Grimes knocked down a mid-range shot for his first points of the game, and Bona added two more points from free throws. Collins and Bagley traded dunks, but Horton-Tucker got an and-one layup and free throw. Terry and Collins each made a layup, but Hood-Schifino answered back with a three.
Grimes then scored four straight points for the 76ers, but Williams and Terry each hit a two. With the final seconds of the quarter ticking down, Horton-Tucker hit one of two free throws to make it 86-75, Bulls, heading into the fourth.
With 12 minutes left to play in the season, Horton-Tucker hit a pair of free throws and Williams hit a layup to kick off the quarter. Carter drilled a 20-footer but was quickly answered by a three from Walker. Williams and Walker then traded threes, and Smith and Bagley traded dunks.
However, the threes began falling for the Bulls, and the lead continued to increase. Williams and Smith hit back-to-back triples, and one possession later, Smith drilled a 23-footer to go up 19 with just under seven minutes to play.
Walker then drilled another three, and Hood-Schifino hit a pair of free throws. Horton-Tucker and Collins answered back, each hitting a mid-range jumper, and Jahmir Young hit a layup to put Chicago up 18 with three and a half minutes to play.
In the final stretch of play, Walker knocked down another triple, but Emanuel Miller hit back-to-back shots. Butler and Young each hit a pair of free throws, and Miller hit another bucket. Collins then hit a pair of free throws, but Butler drilled another three. With the final seconds ticking down, the two teams dribbled out the clock with the Bulls picking up the 122-102 win.
On May 12, the 76ers will see if their terrible season pays off as they will have the fifth-best odds to receive the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft at the Draft Lottery. If the 76ers’ pick falls out of the top six, the pick will go to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
