CHICAGO _ As good as the 76ers have been at home, they were the exact opposite on the road.
They headed into Thursday's game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center with four consecutive road losses.
So the Sixers had this matchup targeted as one they needed to win. Thanks to Ben Simmons, they were able to do just that.
The rookie point guard made a pair of foul shots with 5.6 seconds left to give the Sixers a 116-115 lead. The Bulls had a chance to win the game, but Bobby Portis missed a short jumper in the closing second and Lauri Markkanen failed to get off a shot before time expired.
The 116-115 victory improved the Sixers to 31-25 and extended their winning streak to six consecutive games. However, this marked their first road win since beating the short-handed San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 26.
Meanwhile, the Bulls (20-37) have lost 10 of their last 12 games.
Simmons finished with a team-high 32 points, a game-high 11 assists and seven rebounds. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid added 30 points and game highs of 13 rebounds and four blocks.
Before his missed shot, the Sixers had no answer for Portis.
The Bulls reserve forward finished with a career-high 38 points on 15 of 26 shooting.
His dunk with 4 minutes, 8 seconds left gave the Bulls a 111-106 lead. The Sixers pulled within two points (112-110) on Dario Saric's foul shot with 1:42 left. The Sixers had a chance to knot the score or take the lead with 1:17 left, but Embiid turned the ball.
Then Zach LaVine came down a buried a 3-pointer to put the Bulls up, 115-110 with 1:02 to play. Simmons closed the gap to three points (115-112) on a tip-in of his missed layup with 35.4 seconds left.
JJ Redick made it a one-point game (115-114) with eight seconds remaining with a pair of foul shots. But Simmons scored the winning points with 5.6 left. He made 6 of 11 free throws for the game.
This game also marked Embiid's first appearance in Chicago due to injuries or not being cleared to play in a back-to-back. The all-star didn't disappoint.
However, it was like the Chicago's front office was trying to stop him.
The team appears to be in full-blown tank mode, sitting healthy players Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday. The two are among the Bulls' best players. Chicago said the move allows it to monitor the development of their young players.
But the Sixers made things more interesting that it needed to be.
They had a commanding 18-point cushion (25-7) with 6:43 seconds remaining in the first quarter. However, the Bulls battled back and took their first lead on the game (63-62) on Cameron Payne's 3-pointer with 1:11 before intermission. Then LaVine's 3-pointer on the Bulls' next possession gave them a 66-62 advantage. After Redick responded with a 3, Noah Vonleh hit Chicago's third straight 3-pointer to make it a 69-65 game 26 seconds before intermission.
But a lot of the Bulls' first-half success had to do with reserve forward Portis.
Portis took advantage of several open looks, scoring 21 of his points before intermission. He did that on 8-for-12 shooting, including going 4 of 6 on 3-pointers in the first half.
The Bulls also made 12 of 21 3-pointers (57.1 percent) before intermission.
