76ers aim to spoil Bulls' playoff chances

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls already experienced their share of hardships this season.

However, as the Bulls attempt to play their way into contention for an Eastern Conference playoff spot starting Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, bigger tests may be looming.

With the 76ers (26-45) out of postseason contention, Philadelphia is simply playing out the string. The 76ers enter Friday's road game having lost 12 straight meetings with the Bulls, including six straight the United Center.

Unlike the 76ers, though, the Bulls (34-38) are just one game out of the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But with Dwyane Wade (elbow) out for the remainder of the regular season, Chicago will have to fight through more obstacles to avoid missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

"It's all about going out there and completing and having each other's backs, fighting through adversity as well as you can," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said Wednesday, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Chicago starting center Robin Lopez will return Friday after missing the Bulls' 117-95 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday due to a one-game suspension. He was punished by the league for throwing a punch in a fight with Toronto's Serge Ibaka earlier this week.

The 76ers were already short-handed before the team announced Wednesday that center Joel Embiid would undergo surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee. Embiid has not played since January after appearing in just 31 games for the 76ers, who enter Friday night's game having lost two straight games and seven of their last 10 games.

While Philadelphia had grown accustomed to playing without Embiid, Wednesday's news made what was believed to be coming official -- that Embiid would miss the remainder of the season.

And for a 76ers team that has endured much during an on-going rebuilding process, Philadelphia -- like the Bulls -- will have to find a way to soldier on as they play out the string of the remainder of the season as Embiid faces his third offseason dealing with an injury.

"Obviously, he's going to have the whole summer to recover from it," guard Nik Stauskas said Wednesday, according to CSN Philly. "It's probably good timing to get on it now and five him four, five, maybe six months to fully get better from it."

As the 76ers continue to build toward the future as a team that will again likely have a lottery pick to bolster their roster, the Bulls are hoping to play for the near future. But in what's already been a season full of inconsistent play, Chicago is hoping to reverse that trend in time to find a spot in the playoffs.

But there's not a lot of room for missteps -- starting Friday against Philadelphia.

And if the Bulls need any motivation, it's to give Wade enough time to heal to extend his season and rejoin his teammates in the postseason.

"(Wade says) 'Get us to the playoffs, because I'll be able to come back, and I can play,'" Bulls swingman Jimmy Butler said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "So that's my goal right now. Go out there and be the killer to take us to these wins."