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Bulls meet 76ers as Eastern playoff scramble heats up

Mar 13, 2009 - 6:16 AM By Brett Huston Stats Writer

Chicago (29-36) at Philadelphia (31-31), 7:00 p.m. EDT

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Chicago Bulls started the week with a heartbreaking, double-overtime loss and followed it with one of their worst performances of the season.

The Bulls - in a virtual tie for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot - hope their response is a lot better Friday night in Philadelphia, where the 76ers also are trying to boost their postseason position.

Chicago (29-36) was on the wrong end of one of the wildest games of the NBA season on Monday, starting a three-game road trip with a 130-127 double-overtime defeat in Miami as Dwyane Wade made a running 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Bulls traveled north to Orlando for a game Wednesday night, but barely bothered to show up. Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose finished a combined 3-for-22 from the field and Chicago shot 31.4 percent overall in a 107-79 loss.

"Everything we were doing was real difficult," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We didn't bring the energy. We didn't make any shots. ... It was one of those nights."

The Bulls missed an opportunity to jump past Milwaukee into sole possession of the eighth spot in the East, instead joining the Bucks at seven games below .500 while New Jersey, Charlotte, Indiana and New York all lurk within 1 1/2 games.

Philadelphia (31-31) is in a slightly more comfortable position, sitting alone in seventh place, a half-game behind Detroit and 3 1/2 up on Milwaukee and Chicago.

The 76ers, though, once looked considerably more capable of moving up the standings than they have over the past three weeks. Philadelphia had dropped seven of 10 after an 89-74 loss at Oklahoma City on Sunday.

But after coming within two points of equaling their season low, the Sixers bounced back Wednesday by scoring more than they had since Jan. 24. Thaddeus Young had a career-high 29 points and Philadelphia shot 56.4 percent in a 115-106 win over visiting Toronto.

"I just went out there and played," said Young, averaging 19.2 points in his last six games. "The difference between today and any other day is I was making shots and my team kept me going. I thank them for leaning toward me to get me shots."

Andre Miller gets him a lot of those shots, averaging 6.4 assists, but he was held to nine points Wednesday after scoring at least 20 in five straight.

The veteran point guard's matchup with Rose could be a good one, and if the top overall pick of the 2008 draft has a big game there's a good chance Chicago will win. The Bulls are 15-7 when Rose scores 21 points or more.

His 18 points and 10 assists lifted the Bulls to a 103-92 win in Philadelphia on Nov. 30, and he scored 24 two days later in Chicago but Miller had nine of his 28 in overtime as the Sixers won 103-95.

This will be the first time Philadelphia sees former 76er John Salmons wearing a Bulls uniform, and the seventh-year swingman has given Chicago some nice production since coming over from Sacramento last month.

Salmons, a Philadelphia native who spent four mostly unproductive years with the Sixers to start his career, has averaged 22.8 points and 7.3 rebounds in his last four games.

He's averaged 17.3 points in his last three games against Philadelphia.