CHICAGO _ The 76ers did something Friday night they hadn't done against the Chicago Bulls in the teams' previous 12 meetings: win.
They snapped their series skid with a 117-107 victory at the United Center. The victory improved the Sixers to 27-45.
This was a much-needed victory for the visitors. They lost to the Orlando Magic and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first two games of this five-game trip. They are expected to have another tough matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday before concluding the trip Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets.
Chicago All-Star Jimmy Butler finished with game highs of 36 points and 11 assists. However, Sixers power forward Dario Saric played the role of the equalizer, scoring a career-high 32 points and grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds.
Sixers reserve center Shawn Long finished with a career-high 18 points and career-high-tying seven rebounds. Reserve shooting guard Gerald Henderson (14 points), reserve point guard Sergio Rodriguez (12 points, seven assists), and point guard T.J. McConnell (10 points, eight assists) were the other Sixers in double figures.
The Sixers won without Jahlil Okafor. He has now missed two of three games and eight total with right knee soreness. The center also sat out the second half of Sunday's game against the Boston Celtics with the soreness.
Okafor has been dealing with soreness since having surgery on March 22, 2016, to repair a torn meniscus in the knee. It didn't help that Thunder shooting guard Victor Oladipo inadvertently hit the Chicago native's knee during Wednesday's matchup.
"We play 82 games. It's bound to happen," Okafor said of Wednesday's setback. "It's unfortunate that it had to happen to me again. And I'm missing out in playing in my hometown.
"So, I am feeling down. Why they have to do it right now? It is what it is. Like I said, as a professional athlete, it's just to be expected."
But the Sixers didn't need him on this night against the overmatched Bulls (34-39). This game could ultimately go a long way to deciding if Chicago advances to the playoffs.
The Bulls now trail the Miami Heat by two games for the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot with nine games left.
The Sixers led by as many as 26 points after McConnell's jumper with 5 minutes, 58 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Bulls pulled within 10 points (102-92) after Bobby Portis' jumper with 7:15 left. They also got within 10 points (117-107) on Denzel Valentine's 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left. By then, the game was basically over.
