PHILADELPHIA _ It might as well be remembered as Furkan Korkmaz Night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The 76ers reserve guard had a career performance, helping guide the Sixers to 100-89 win over the visiting Chicago Bulls.
Korkmaz scored a career-high 24 points, making a career-high six 3-pointers in nine attempts. He recorded 18 of those points after intermission.
With the third-year veteran leading the way, the Sixers improved to 27-16 overall and 20-2 at home. The Bulls dropped to 15-28.
Ben Simmons added 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Sixers. Al Horford (20 points) and Tobias Harris (13) were the team's other double-figure scorers.
Zach LaVine paced the Bulls with 23 points.
But on this night, Korkmaz was the standout.
He went 2 for 3 on 3-pointers in the first half before making four consecutive long-range shots in the third quarter. He made a pair of foul shots to score 14 straight points for the Sixers, giving them a 79-68 cushion with 51.1 seconds left in the frame.
The Turkish guard threw down a crowd-pleasing dunk on his next shot attempt with 6:32 left in the fourth. He missed a 3-pointer on his next attempt before scoring on a layup to put the Sixers up 95-83 with 4:48 remaining.
The Sixers were without Norvel Pelle, whose expiring two-way contract came into play Friday night.
The reserve center only has two days left toward the maximum number of days the Sixers are allowed to have him on the team in his two-way deal. The plan was to sign him to the 15-man roster or release him after his 45 days. The Sixers will stretch those days out by recalling him only on needed game days.
Not wanting to use a day on Friday night, Pelle remained with the Delaware Blue Coats, the Sixers' NBA G-League affiliate. As a result, Kyle O'Quinn (six points) was the Sixers' backup center against the Bulls. O'Quinn hadn't played in six straight games and 11 out of the last 12 matchups.
The Sixers would have to waive a player in order to make room for Pelle on the 15-man roster. But he's a key piece right now since Joel Embiid is out after tearing the radial collateral ligament in the ring finger of his left hand.
Friday night's win wasn't all perfect.
Korkmaz appeared to make 3 with 3:02 left in the first quarter. But it was taken back because the Sixers had too many men on the floor. They received a technical for the blunder. O'Quinn and Harris both tried to rush off the floor before the referees noticed. Simmons, Josh Richardson and Mike Scott joined Korkmaz, O'Quinn and Harris on the court.
