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Giddey lifts Bulls to win battle of East's most surprising teams
Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) warms up before an NBA game against the Philadelphia 76ers at United Center. Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Josh Giddey lifts Bulls to win battle of East's most surprising teams

No one expected the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers to be 5-1 in after six games. No one would have expected the Bulls to be 6-1 after Tuesday night when they were trailing by 24 points early.

Josh Giddey scored two of the last three baskets of the game and assisted on Nikola Vucevic's game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds of Chicago's 113-111 victory. Thanks to the late heroics, the Bulls got a win in a game they led for only 3.2 seconds.

Josh Giddey is leading the Bulls best start in decades

Chicago started 5-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 season, when they still had Michael Jordan. They still haven't lost at home (5-0) this season, with Giddey leading the way. The fifth-year guard had a monster game Tuesday with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. For the season, Giddey's averaging 23.1 points, 10 rebounds and 9.1 assists on a Bulls team that was expected to top out at 33 wins.

Giddey is doing it all. Two games after he scored a career-high 32 points against the New York Knicks, Giddey shot 12-for-21 overall, 2-for-4 on threes and 7-for-8 from the foul line, a sign of his greatly-improved shooting and overall confidence.

That improvement may have started last season, when Giddey averaged nearly a triple-double in March and April — 20.4 PPG, 10.6 rebounds and 9.5 assists. Now he's doing it without backcourt partner Coby White and still confounding defenses.

On the game's crucial play, Giddey's drive drew Joel Embiid off of Vucevic, who drilled a corner three off the young Australian's pass.

Josh Giddey barely held off Tyrese Maxey

The surprising 76ers got 39 points from Tyrese Maxey, averaging 34.2 points this season. Maxey shot 14-for-21 before missing his final five field goal attempts, perhaps a sign that he was tiring at carrying the Sixers offense on his back. Especially when Maxey also had to chase Giddey around.

These teams may be exceeding expectations in 2025-26, but neither the 23-year-old Giddey nor the 24-year-old Maxey are playing unrealistically well. The low expectations for the Bulls and Sixers may have been due to underestimating their star guards. If these teams keep winning, these players won't be underrated for long.

Sean Keane

Sean Keane is a sportswriter and a comedian based in Oakland, California, with experience covering the NBA, MLB, NFL and Ice Cube’s three-on-three basketball league, The Big 3. He’s written for Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” ESPN the Magazine, and Audible. com

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