Although Joell Embiid balled out, the Sixers’ overall offense was not goo enough to beat the Bulls.

The winning streak is over for the Philadelphia 76ers after finally facing an opponent with a pulse. The Chicago Bulls stampeded their way to a win over the Sixers by shutting down their elite offense.

Joel Embiid led the way with 40 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and two blocks while shooting 15-28 from the field. Tyrese Maxey tallied 29 points, eight assists and five rebounds and shot 5-11 from deep but also shot just 4-12 inside the arc. Coby White balled out with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Nikola Vucevic tallied 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists and DeMar DeRozan shot poorly from the field but ended the game with 15 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals.

The Sixers had their least productive offensive game of the season in a game Embiid has played in. Although their defense had plenty of moments, the Bulls did just enough to win. Let’s jump into the film to see how Chicago’s defense rose to the occasion.

5. Directing traffic to clear a lane

The Sixers have heavily weaponized Nicolas Batum’s entry passing, especially early in the game, to get easy looks for Embiid. Later in the first quarter, they see the same weak point in the defense that leads to a dunk. But what they see is that the play is for Tobias Harris to make.

With Embiid yet to get a seal to the bucket on Vucevic and the Bulls playing straight-up defense, Embiid and Batum motion for Harris to go get the ball so that the entry pass can have a cleaner, shorter window. Harris puts it right over Embiid’s shoulder where only he can get to it and the big fella reels it in with one paw.

The playmaking brilliance involving three players here is a great sign that the Sixers are honing in on their focal point as an offense: get shots at the rim. The Bulls put together possessions where such looks were very hard to come by but Embiid working harder to get easy looks early in the shot clock is a huge reason for the team’s spike in offensive efficiency.

White makes a good effort here to contest Embiid but he expertly keeps the ball away and throws it down with two hands for safety. It was a very heads-up play from Embiid. But little does he (or anyone) know that White will get him eventually…

4. 4th-quarter Maxey

A 15-point showing in the final quarter was very refreshing to see from Maxey in a not-so-great game. He helped keep the Sixers in the game when Embiid rested and hit some crucial buckets, including a three to make it a one-point game with less than a minute remaining.

This shot here is a miss but Maxey demonstrates the perfect mindset of looking for his shot and firing away. The Sixers draw up a play where he gets a screen and a dribble handoff going to his right, which should open up a path to the middle of the floor.

Instead of following through the pass and screen from Embiid, Maxey slams on the breaks and launches a three. He jabs hard with his right foot and squares back up to the rim. Ayo Dosunmu has to get all the way around Embiid to get back to Maxey, who puts a little too much English on this shot attempt. The result was suboptimal but the process was anything but.

Maxey has probably heard the word “aggressive” one thousand times from Nick Nurse and Embiid so far this season. The final frame demonstrates why. Nurse has said that Maxey is too good to not keep his foot on the gas at all times.

3. DeFense? Is that your cousin, DeMar?

If you got that reference right away, you’re a real one.

DeRozan tied a season-high in steals with four of them in this game. He read this Sixers play like a book to come up with one of them.

While the Sixers run a dribble handoff with Embiid and Harris, Batum and De’Anthony Melton set double flare screens that aim to get Maxey open in the corner. This play is pretty solid; it keeps every defender occupied and involves everyone on the floor but the execution is less than ideal.

However, with three guys crunched onto one side of the floor, the Sixers end up with some rough spacing, leaving a lane so packed that a layup isn’t really in play for Harris. The timing isn’t great either, as Harris has a brief passing window because the corner look is slower to develop. Because Alex Caruso just stands in front of him ready to take a charge, a not-so-great playmaker is left with nothing to do but try to get the ball to Maxey.

DeRozan is able to read the pass and tip it away to himself. He not only feels the screen coming but is watching Harris the whole drive, telling him that the pass is coming his way. The Sixers telegraphed the play a bit too much for a good (or at least, sound) defensive team to break it up.

2. The Bald Mamba Strikes

The Bulls are going to do themselves a gigantic disservice by not trading Caruso at the deadline this season. Every good team will want him because he’s a mastermind on defense and a seamless fit in just about any offense.

Caruso was a menace all night on defense. He only generated one steal but the way he did it was brilliant. With Patrick Beverley driving baseline, Caruso peels off just as he throws a pass to a cutting Robert Covington, knocking it out of his hands and taking off on a fast break. He puts the cherry on top with a layup through a foul.

DeRozan helps make this play possible by coercing Beverley out of bounds. Blitzing him at the baseline makes it very hard to get it to Maxey in the corner (and Jevon Carter slides over to take away that pass anyway), leaving the Sixers guard with nowhere to go but the middle of the floor. Caruso strikes at just the right time to knock the ball loose.

Caruso was a menace on the ball and never gave up on a play, blocking two shots on the night, too. He might be the best defensive guard in all of basketball right now.

1. Embiid’s final shot

https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2023/12/18/0022300351/615/7127b0f4-2d4d-a9e4-f470-dd8584865093_1280x720.mp4?_=5

This technically wasn’t Embiid’s very last shot of the game but it will be the one remembered the most. It was the look that the Sixers crafted with the chance to go ahead or tie it up.

Needing a bucket here more than ever, the Sixers went to an empty-side pick-and-roll with Maxey and Embiid. Calling for the bread-and-butter play that leaves room for the stars to improvise was the right decision. Opting not to call their last timeout ensures that the Bulls have to defend it on the fly rather than bringing in any defensive substitutions or making any major coaching adjustments.

Maxey said after the game that he saw the Bulls’ drop coverage and looked to “drag Vucevic off his line” to open the pass to Embiid just as he crossed the foul line. It’s a little further up from there Embiid usually gets the pocket pass, leading him to take a floater that he typically doesn’t take. Embiid admitted after the game that, if he got a do-over, he would have looked for his usual short jumper. The ball slips away from him as he goes up. He tips it back to the backboard but can’t get it to go.

White’s shot contest on Embiid is magnificent. Rarely will a guy that small be able to deter a guy that big but his timing and vertical leaping are as good as anyone could have anticipated. The Bulls guard may not have gotten a hand on the ball but he definitely made the shot harder. Especially because shots like these are not too typical for Embiid, it’s fair to credit White for causing the disruption that resulted in a miss.

What stands out about this play after the fact is that Melton had a great look at a go-ahead shot. Embiid pulls down his defender, DeRozan, and leaves him with a wide-open view of the hoop. But because the Sixers can tie it with a two-pointer and Melton is behind Embiid’s field of vision, the big fella goes right up with the shot. You can’t really fault him for that. All that’s left for the Sixers is to learn from this game and move on.