76ers Blow 24-Point Lead To Bulls Suffering First Road Loss Of The Season

Heading into the start of the 2025-26 NBA season, many people in the basketball world didn’t expect the 5-1 76ers and the 5-1 Bulls to be battling for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams seemed to be catching lightning in a bottle to start the season, but came out and put on a fantastic showcase.

Through the first seven games of the season, the 76ers have been one of the NBA’s best stories, mounting multiple fourth-quarter comebacks to open the year. However, it was more of the opposite for Philadelphia, which dominated for the first three quarters of action, but fell apart down the stretch, eventually blowing a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter, spoiling what would’ve been a huge win.

Over the final six minutes and 24 seconds of action, the 76ers hit just one field goal and scored four total points. On the other side, the Bulls rode a 13-2 run to close out the fourth to pick up their sixth win of the season, 113-111, behind a 29-point triple-double from Josh Giddey.

The 76ers came out firing in the first quarter, as four of their five starters scored six points or more in the opening frame. Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Tyrese Maxey all came out looking on fire, especially Maxey, who scored 12 points in the opening frame.

As a team, the 76ers shot 15-for-24 from the field and 8-for-11 from beyond the arc in the first 12 minutes of action. They rode a 28-14 run over the final seven minutes of action to put up 45 points in the first quarter, the most they’ve scored in a quarter all season long.

While the second quarter wasn’t as dominant for the 76ers, the stars showed up big time as Maxey and Embiid continued to show people that they are a two-headed monster. Maxey continued where he left out in the first quarter as he scored 10 more over the first half of the quarter, and Embiid kept the scoring going with nine to end the frame as the 76ers stayed out in front big, 75-56.

Down 19 heading into the second half, the Bulls needed to get some type of offensive run to get back in the game, and they got just that. Giddey, who scored 16 points in the first half, got Chicago right back into it thanks to a seven-point run of his own, and throughout the quarter, Kevin Huerter added seven points of his own to make it an 11-point game heading into the final quarter.

With 12 minutes left to play, Philadelphia needed a close-out quarter to hang on to the win. Edgecombe started it off with four straight points, but the Bulls continued to answer the 76ers’ shots. Back-to-back threes by Isaac Okoro and Jalen Smith cut the 76ers’ lead down to seven points, the first time in single digits since early in the first quarter.

With under five minutes to play, Chicago cut their deficit even closer to three, thanks to four straight points from Nikola Vucevic and another bucket from Giddey. As time ticked down, the 76ers could not get any offense going as fatigue seemed to be hitting Maxey, and Embiid was missing shot after shot. With just over a minute left, Giddey hit another clutch layup to make it 111-110 76ers

As the final seconds of the game ticked down, the 76ers continued to fail to find an open shot, giving the Bulls the ball back with the shot clock turned off and an opportunity to win. After a timeout, Giddey drove to the lane, swung it to Vucevic in the corner, who drilled a three, giving Chicago its first lead of the night with 3.2 seconds.

With one last chance for the 76ers, Quentin Grimes caught the inbound and got a clean look for a game-winning three, but it was off the mark, and the Bulls stole the 113-111 victory. The 76ers scored just two points (two Maxey free throws) over their final 6:24 of action, and scored just 36 points in the second half as a whole after scoring 45 in the first quarter.

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