Thanks to a game-winner from Nikola Vucevic with 3 seconds remaining, the Chicago Bulls produced one of the comebacks of the season against the Philadelphia Sixers (113-111).
What a spectacle in Chicago! In a United Center initially silenced but ultimately electrified, the Bulls somehow overturned the Sixers, despite trailing by as many as 24 points in this encounter. The hero of the evening was Nikola Vucevic (19 points, 10 rebounds), author of the winning basket with 3.2 seconds remaining.
In total, Josh Giddey's teammates, who recorded another triple-double (29 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists) and who had long been alone in standing up to Philadelphia, only led once in this match. But it came at the perfect moment and that was what was needed to spoil Tyrese Maxey's latest explosion (39 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists).
Bulls showed championship resilience
Before Josh Giddey's wonderful pass for Nikola Vucevic's game-winner, followed by a missed shot from Quentin Grimes at the buzzer, the Bulls logically suffered at the hands of the Sixers. Disinclined to defend on the perimeter, dominated in physical intensity and unsuccessful from three-point range, they chased the score throughout the match.
However, the Illinois collective has resources this season and, in addition to returning to dominate in the paint, Chicago pushed Philadelphia into a sort of playground basketball approach, illustrated by Joel Embiid (20 points in 26 minutes, but on 7/21 shooting), whose game became erratic. Until the hammer fell in the final moments.
NIKOLA VUCEVIC GAME WINNER
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— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 5, 2025
Chicago came back from nowhere. Something is clearly happening in Illinois this season. For the sixth time in seven matches, the Bulls have won and, tonight, one cannot say it was expected. Especially when Billy Donovan's players were overwhelmed in the first quarter, or when they trailed by 24 points during the second quarter. Except that a 19-8 run, driven by Josh Giddey and Kevin Huerter, relaunched everything at the end of the third quarter and, subsequently, the home side let Jalen Smith, Giddey and finally Nikola Vucevic punish this Sixers team in the midst of a shooting crisis.
Philadelphia completely collapsed. Like Joel Embiid, extinguished after the break, the Sixers saw no light in the second half. Particularly in the fourth quarter, which they finished by conceding a 9-0 run, with no points in the final four minutes and no basket in the final six. Increasingly inaccurate in shooting, increasingly lost on defensive transitions and increasingly careless with the ball, Nick Nurse's men collapsed without managing to react and this defeat hurts, with a back-to-back looming in Cleveland.
Jared McCain is back. Eleven months after his last appearance in a Sixers shirt, Jared McCain played again and finally put his meniscus and thumb injuries behind him. Used off the bench (15 minutes), he did not particularly shine (0 points, 2 assists) and showed inaccuracy (0/4), but the essential thing was obviously elsewhere for the 16th pick of the 2024 Draft, who will now want to move forward after his frustrating and emotionally heavy final year.
And Red Panda too! It was impossible not to also highlight the return of the indefatigable Red Panda and her catchy music, played whilst she catches several bowls on her head that she throws with her foot, whilst perched on her unicycle, 2.5 metres from the ground. Four months ago, Rong Niu, her real name, had broken her wrist at half-time of a WNBA match because her unicycle had been damaged during transport, hence the accident, and she had then spent 11 hours in a Minneapolis hospital. But the 55-year-old acrobat has finally recovered and she therefore resumed in Chicago.
This article was originally published on Basket USA.
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