CHICAGO _ The 76ers did a good job getting back into the game. They did a bad job of stopping the Chicago Bulls once they got there.
The Bulls broke open a tied game with an 11-2 third-quarter burst en route to a 121-108 victory Sunday night at the United Center.
The loss dropped the Sixers to 17-29 heading into Monday's matchup against the Sacramento Kings at the Wells Fargo Center. It was their second consecutive setback after winning 10 of their previous 13 games.
The game marked their 12th straight loss in the series with the Bulls (24-25), who snapped a two-game skid. The Sixers were at a disadvantage Sunday without standout center Joel Embiid. He is listed as questionable for Monday's game with left knee soreness.
The Sixers can only hope the Kings don't have the same balanced attack that the Bulls displayed Sunday.
All-Star Jimmy Butler finished with a team-high 28 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. Robin Lopez added 21 points and 10 rebounds. Dwyane Wade and reserve Doug McDermott added 14 points each. Reserves Nikola Mirotic (13 points) and Paul Zipser (13) also scored in double figures.
All five Sixers starters scored in double figures.
Ersan Ilyasova finished with a season-high 31 points and 11 rebounds one game after being held to four points. It was the sixth 30-point game of his career and his first since scoring a career-high 34 points on March 26, 2015, as a Milwaukee Buck.
Robert Covington made 4 of 7 3-pointers to finish with 21 points to go with 12 rebounds. Nik Staukas (15 points) T.J. McConnell (14 points, 12 assists) and Nerlens Noel (12 points, three blocks) were the other double-digit scorers.
The Sixers battled back from a 20-point second-quarter deficit and knotted the score at 81 with 4 minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter. However, the Bulls responded with an 11-2 run to take a comfortable lead.
The Sixers pulled within five points on Stauskas' layup with 5:21 left. But that was a close as they got.
Embiid did not make the trip to Chicago and was undergoing treatment at the team's practice facility in Camden on Sunday.
The 7-foot-2, 270-pounder suffered a left-knee bruise against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 20. He was already scheduled to miss the next night's game because he does not play on consecutive nights. Then the rookie was ruled out for the next two games because of the injury.
Embiid returned Friday night and scored 32 points in a loss to the Houston Rockets. Afterward, he said he came back one week ahead of schedule. The 22-year-old also said that he experienced a little soreness.
Coach Brett Brown was asked Sunday if Embiid came back too soon.
"No, I don't think so," Brown said. "I think you end up going with the doctors' advice. I don't feel that way."
The coach added that the Sixers have "some highly educated people that completely tilt on responsible decisions."
