Philadelphia,  PA (SportsNetwork.com)  - Eight days and four games is what the 
Philadelphia 76ers have left. 

That's  how much time  they have to get a win or face tying the type of record 
even  a  team in the midst  of a rebuild doesn't  want to touch with a 10-foot 
hoop. 

The Sixers' team-record losing streak reached 22 games Wednesday night after a 
late run against another top Eastern Conference team fell short. 

D.J. Augustin scored 20 off the bench, hitting a couple of key 3-pointers down 
the  stretch, and  the Chicago Bulls held on  for a 102-94 win in the first of 
two meetings between the teams in four days. 

Taj  Gibson added 19  points and 13 rebounds for Chicago -- also off the bench 
-- and Jimmy Butler scored 16. 

The Bulls, who have won three of four, became the second playoff-bound team in 
three days to avoid a loss to the Sixers. 

The  East-leading Indiana  Pacers needed a late run to beat Philadelphia 99-90 
on Monday. 

"They  play tough.  They don't go away," said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. "They 
keep coming." 

The  Sixers are within four losses of Cleveland's NBA-record streak of 26 in a 
row set during the 2010-11 season. 

Winless  since beating Boston  on Jan. 29, they got a spark off the bench from 
Byron  Mullens, whose  10 points in the fourth quarter included consecutive 3- 
pointers to get them within one. 

They  tied the game for the first time since 28-28 early in the second quarter 
on a Thaddeus Young 3-pointer moments later but missed their next three shots. 

Butler and Augustin then hit consecutive 3-pointers for a six-point Bulls lead 
with  under  six minutes left  and Augustin kept it  at six with another three 
later on. 

The  Sixers got within  four twice, the last time on a two-handed Mullens dunk 
in transition. Wroten had a layup dangle on the rim -- inches from making it a 
two-point  game -- but Joakim Noah swatted it away. Butler made a pair of foul 
shots at the other end with 24 seconds left, and that was that. 

The teams will play again in Chicago on Saturday. 

"The  energy was  there," said  Mullens. "Of  course it  always helps  to make 
shots, but it was a tough loss for us. It was a really good game. We just have 
to play like that every night." 

The  Sixers,  led by Young's 24  points, missed 10  of their 19 foul shots and 
were  outrebounded 52-38.  Wroten didn't miss a 3-pointer until the fourth and 
scored 17, ending 4-for-6 from deep. 

Michael Carter-Williams had 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the 
Sixers,  but the rookie point guard also showed his youth on a turnover in the 
last  seconds when he left his feet in the paint with nowhere to go and landed 
without a pass. 

How long has it been since the Sixers last won? Their victory over the Celtics 
came  after Even  Turner, who now plays for Indiana, hit an off-balance jumper 
at the buzzer. It was four days before the Super Bowl and nine days before the 
opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. 

Chicago led by as many as 11 points in the first half and were up 52-45 at the 
break. The Bulls took a 75-69 lead into the fourth quarter. 

                                   Game Notes 

Mullens scored 12 ... The Sixers have also lost a team-record 17 in a row at 
home. They host the Knicks on Friday ... The Bulls play at Indiana, also on 
Friday.