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76ers-Bulls Preview

Dec 14, 2015 - 4:14 AM Although the Chicago Bulls have been dealing with inconsistency, the next game offers some wiggle room as they try to extend their home dominance over the NBA's worst team.

The Philadelphia 76ers have won only once at United Center since the start of 2009, and while their winless road start pales in comparison to some of the worst in league history, they'll try to avoid falling to 0-15 on Monday night.

The Bulls (13-8) had lost three in a row before bouncing back with home victories over the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans. With their offense plodding along and the starters shooting poorly, Chicago got a huge lift from its reserves in Saturday's 98-94 victory over the Pelicans. The Bulls were down six entering the fourth, but Aaron Brooks scored 15 of his 17 in the quarter to lead a bench that contributed 52 points.

"That second group's movement, pace - that's how we want to play," said coach Fred Hoiberg, who engineered a fast-paced offense at Iowa State before joining the Bulls.

Doug McDermott scored 12 points while Joakim Noah and Nikola Mirotic each added 10 to help pick up the slack for the team's struggling trio of stars.

Pau Gasol (18) and Jimmy Butler (15) put up points, but Derrick Rose had nine - although his 15-footer with 11.5 seconds left provided the final margin - and the three shot a combined 14 of 41. Seven of Butler's points and six of Gasol's came on free throws.

"They were having fun out there," Hoiberg said of his reserves. "It was just such a grind-out, slow-motion-type of a game, and we finally got a little energy injected out there. They were moving. It was fun to watch."

The bench players could see extended minutes against the 76ers (1-24), who have lost six in a row and 10 of 11 visits to Chicago. During their current six-game overall slide, the Sixers managed to lose by 51 last Monday against a San Antonio team that rested Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard.

In the first meeting at Philadelphia on Nov. 9, McDermott and Mirotic actually started and played well while logging over 28 minutes apiece. Mirotic shot 6 of 11 with a team-high 20 points and McDermott was 7 for 15 with a career-best 18 in a 111-88 victory.

The 76ers' season of woe continued with a 96-76 loss at Toronto on Sunday in which they shot 33.3 percent and fell apart after pulling within six midway through the fourth.

"We still played good defense, but we had trouble scoring near the end of the game," said rookie Jahlil Okafor, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds.

Philadelphia had at least 20 turnovers for the seventh time, and it proved rather costly as the Raptors scored 28 points off the 22 miscues. The Sixers lead the NBA with 542 points allowed off turnovers - 72 more than second-worst Houston. From the Rockets down to 10th-place Portland, the difference is 52.

Although they fell to 0-14 on the road in the opener of a three-game trip that concludes Wednesday in Atlanta, the 76ers have quite a long way to go before being mentioned with the likes of the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks, who set the record at 0-29.

Still, another loss would make them only the 16th team to lose at least 15 straight road games to begin a season. The most recent was Washington, which opened 0-25 in 2010-11. The only other team to do it in the last 15 years? The Bulls (0-18) in '01-02.