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Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey on Tuesday became only the second player in franchise history to post two consecutive triple-doubles, joining the G.O.A.T., Michael Jordan, in exclusive company. Giddey posted 29 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists as the Bulls overcame a 24-point deficit to stun the Philadelphia 76ers, improving their record to 6-1 and tightening their hold over the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Australian had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in Sunday’s 128-116 loss to the Knicks. The 23-year-old has achieved a feat that eluded Scottie Pippen (15), Joakim Noah (7), Tom Boerwinkle (5) and Jimmy Butler III (4) — the Bulls’ four other all-time triple-double leaders behind Jordan. A Triple-Double Machine Giddey already has nine triple-doubles in a Bulls uniform and is just six away from eclipsing Pippen for second on the Bulls’ all-time leaderboard. The Aussie hailed Tuesday’s win as Chicago’s best of the season, given the difficulty in overcoming a 24-point deficit against one of the better teams in the East. “Tonight was one of the best wins that I’ve ever been a part of,” Giddey said, via ESPN’s Jamal Collier. “Just in terms of how bad we were down that early in the third. And to gut that one out and dig ourselves out of the hole that we did was unbelievable.” Giddey is averaging 23.1 points, 10.0 rebounds and 9.1 assists, and could potentially become just the third guard in NBA history to average a triple-double, joining Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson. How Far Can Bulls Go? With the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers not in contention this year, it is widely believed that the Bulls, 76ers, Knicks, Cavaliers and even the Magic have a legitimate shot to represent the East in the 2026 NBA Finals. The unknown element of the Giddey-run Bulls offense has already put the NBA on notice. The Bulls rank seventh in points per game (120.4), second in three-point percentage (40.3) and fourth in assists (29.6) — metrics that will travel over the course of an 82-game season. Furthermore, their democratic offense has four players averaging over 15 points per game — Giddey, Nikola Vucevic, Matas Buzelis and Ayo Dosunmu — while getting valuable contributions from Kevin Huerter and Tre Jones. Vucevic feels the team has all the tools to compete for a title, and that his belief was reassured when they overcame a 24-point lead. “We have belief,” Vucevic said, “And I think we also were aware that we played really, really bad basketball in the first quarter, especially defensively. I mean giving up 45 points, literally had put up no resistance at all. … And a lot of those things were controllable things that we know we can do better than we’ve done.” “…So hopefully we can use this as a good learning experience for us and understand that we have to do this for 48 minutes.”
