I’m going to go ahead and call Sunday’s matinee Chicago Bulls defeat to the mighty Philadelphia 76ers a “good loss.”
Unlike that narrow 124-120 Washington Wizards loss earlier this season, the Bulls didn’t blow a massive lead. Instead, they played chippy defense and got (relatively) big offensive nights out of streaky young guns Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, and Noa Essengue to nearly snag a dub against one of the Eastern Conference’s best squads. Eventually, yes, this much more talented Sixers club pulled out a victory. But for a while, our Bulls held their own.
With Wayne Randazzo and Kendall Gill on the call for Chicago Sports Network, Chicago put up a shockingly resilient wall-to-wall effort. As Randazzo mentioned late in the broadcast, this really did feel like a bit of “moral victory” compared to the erratic efforts we’ve seen out of these young Bulls for much of the 2025-26 season.
This time, minus Norman Powell but with Nic Claxton, Chicago really did its darnedest to steal one late from a team that was trotting out all of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid.
With a nod to a more egalitarian offense, the team reconfigured its starting lineup to adhere to a position-based order.
Astute fans will notice Bulls switched up their usual starting lineup introduction. And it’s emblematic of the culture and philosophy that Tiago Splitter is trying to create. Details here from @ruthiepolinsky ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/yFH5XxAgiQ
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 8, 2026The Bulls enjoyed an uncharacteristically efficient shooting night from the field overall and from the charity stripe. Chicago connected on 52.3 percent of its field goals (better than Philadelphia’s 46.5 percent rate) and 82.6 percent of its free throw takes.
It was a run-and-gun game, with the Sixers mostly playing up to the Bulls’ fast-paced attack.
Chicago Bulls forward Noa Essengue goes up for a shot against the Philadelphia 76ers.Key Bulls-Sixers Takeaways
Let’s start with the big note: Norman Powell was a late scratch, which opened up a starting slot for Isaac Okoro, the team’s best perimeter defender. Head coach Tiago Splitter took pains to feature the former 2020 lottery pick early in both halves. He’s a reliable catch-and-shoot player and a solid point-of-attack defender — so he frequently at least made life difficult for All-NBA point guard Maxey. Still, Okoro’s handle left a lot to be desired. After a nifty steal midway through the second half, he was easily picked off at the other end.RIM ROCKIN' pic.twitter.com/k8QKI4PHG7
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) November 8, 2026 People have been advocating for a starting lineup shift for a while. The Bulls are now 1-8 after this matinee loss, and Splitter seems to at least be unprecious when it comes to toggling his rotation minutes. After a strong showing in blowout minutes against the New York Knicks earlier this week, Patrick Williams was suddenly pressed into service as Splitter’s 10th man off the bench. He ultimately played for 24 minutes and scored seven points. Two-way signing Jordan even earned some run in the first quarter to help accommodate for Powell’s scoring absence along the wing. Back-to-back Williams and Caleb Wilson slams seemed to energize the United Center crowd a bit heading into the break, where Philadelphia led by a scant 68-61.Patrick Williams and Caleb Wilson with back-to-back slams!@CHSN__ | #SeeRed pic.twitter.com/poiPLtF98z
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 8, 2026 Claxton came off the bench for his first Bulls action of the preseason or regular season, following a month-long hamstring injury. He played a hair under 18 minutes, scoring four points on 2-of-3 shooting, grabbing four rebounds, dishing out four dimes, and blocking a pair of shots. Beyond the stats, he seemed a bit shaky. He was called for an obvious moving screen at one point and seemingly forgot to always have an arm up while defending. The sneaky story of the night was Noa Essengue. The 19-year-old Frenchman, whom Randazzo mentioned was born after LeBron James won his first MVP, had only his second double-digit scoring game of his career. In fairness, he appeared in just two games last season. He’s an actual, consistent part of Splitter’s rotation, as a versatile defender with decent touch around the basket. In just 14:33, Essengue finished with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting, seven rebounds (three offensive!), and an assist. The kid could really be something.Noa Essengue with the putback to give him 5 pointsI BELIEVE IN NOA! pic.twitter.com/mnj7aEDQn4
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) November 8, 2026 Giddey and Buzelis both submitted their most dialed-in games of the young season. Both scored team highs of 19 points on 58 percent shooting or better, while Giddey chipped in a season-best 15 dishes. Rookie Caleb Wilson, who has quickly become the Bulls’ most reliable player, scored 18 points. He and center Jalen Smith both faded a bit in the second half, having done most of their damage in the opening two quarters. Buzelis, in particular, looked significantly more aggressive in cutting inside for easy buckets. He also dribbled into a snazzy midrange pull-up take and went 3-of-7 from distance. This was, by far, his best bout of the year. He made smaller Sixers defenders pay whenever they were sicced onto him — a far cry from his weirdly passive most recent performance against New York. But let’s move beyond the good vibes and zero in on the two biggest issues plaguing Chicago this time. Offensive rebounding continues to be a problem. Philadelphia grabbed 20 such boards to the Bulls’ nine. Philadelphia also went 14-of-34 from deep (41.2 percent). While the Bulls were once again enthusiastic 3-point shooters, they still struggled to connect, going just 10-of-37 (27 percent) from long range. Powell’s return could at least help with the sniping, although he’s a bit of an undersized two-guard and not an amazing offensive rebounder.Full Box Score
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