PHILADELPHIA  — Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner hopped on the scorer’s table and played to the crowd as the catchy 76ers theme song blared in the arena.

Eight years of going home empty was over. The Sixers were ready for a long overdue postseason celebration.

Iguodala made the go-ahead free throws with 2.2 seconds left and Philadelphia rallied for a 79-78 victory over the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in Game 6 on Thursday night, advancing to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2003.

The 76ers will face Boston, which beat Atlanta in six games, in the conference semifinals.

Omer Asik missed two free throws that would have given the Bulls a three-point lead in the final seconds. Iguodala grabbed the second miss, sprinted the length of the court, and was fouled by Asik on the driving layup. He made both and 20,362 fans went absolutely wild.

The Sixers are the fifth No. 8 seed to win a first-round series against a No. 1 seed. Memphis eliminated San Antonio last season, while Golden State (2007), New York (1999) and Denver (1994) also pulled off the rare feat.
 
In his second season, coach Doug Collins had already led the Sixers to their first winning season in seven years. Now, it’s on to the second round for the first time Allen Iverson was an All-Star.

“I don’t know how we won this game,” Collins said.

The Sixers were smiling and mobbed each other as they dashed to the locker room to keep the party going.

The Sixers were 2.2 seconds from playing Game 7 in Chicago.

Now, they will pack their bags for the second round.

Iguodala scored 20 points, and Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams each scored 14. The Sixers won even though the Bulls crushed them 56-33 on the boards.

Iguodala snagged the one that mattered.

“We win on a rebound. Something we don’t get all night,” a smiling Collins said.

Iguodala made nine of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter in this series after shooting 45 percent (23 of 51) from the line in the period this season.

“I just wanted it for Dre so badly,” Collins said.

Luol Deng had 19 points and 17 rebounds for the Bulls. Richard Hamilton scored 19 points and Carlos Boozer grabbed 13 rebounds.

The Sixers started 20-9 and led the Atlantic Division for the first half of the season until a late fade sent them tumbling toward eighth place.

None of that matters now.

Not even the fact that the series win comes with a bit of an asterisk. The Bulls lost star guard Derrick Rose to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee late in their series-opening victory. Center Joakim Noah was on the bench Thursday but failed to play in his third straight game with a sprained left ankle.

Without their stars, the Bulls found it tough to gut one out against the Sixers.

“I thought we had more than enough to win with,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I’m disappointed in the loss but I’m not disappointed in our team.”

Williams, second in the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award voting, buried a 3-pointer for a 73-72 lead with 4 minutes left.
The jubilation was short lived.

The Sixers were whistled for goaltending and Taj Gibson later made two free throws for a 76-73 lead.

Spencer Hawes tried to draw the foul but settled for a basket underneath to shrink the deficit to one. Asik scored to push the lead back to three with 25.8 seconds left and Philadelphia’s Thaddeus Young made it 78-77 to set the stage for the dramatic finish.

The Bulls had the lock-down defensive effort to nearly pull off the win.

The signature series came in the fourth quarter when the Sixers wasted a forced turnover on the other end with a brutal offensive possession.

Hawes missed a shot, Young missed two straight in the paint, and Hawes missed again against hands-up defense that sent the bench into a frenzy. Noah was the first one up pumping his fist and screaming encouragement for the fantastic defensive effort.

Hawes fired an airball next time down and there was a collective groan from the crowd.

Iguodala made up for a string of Sixers misses with a tying 3 that made it 70-all.

The Sixers tried to get a laugh by showing the Bulls bench on “Kiss Cam.” Noah popped his warmup jacket toward the camera and the crowd booed the oversized “Chicago” on the big screen.

Noah was one of the top offensive rebounders in the league and the Bulls figured on missing his presence in the middle.

Led by Deng and Boozer, the Bulls instead went out and controlled the boards, holding a 49-29 edge early in the fourth.

“We have to use this as motivation to move forward,” Thibodeau said.

Notes: The Sixers scored a measly 26 first-half points in their Game 5 loss. They led Game 6 48-40 at halftime. … The Sixers started 12 of 20 from the field and finished the half at 50 percent. They shot a season-low 32 percent in Game 5 and failed to shoot better than 40 percent in three other games. … The Bulls had a 3-pointer taken off the board right before the first half.

DEERFIELD — It seemed almost unthinkable that the Chicago Bulls could be in this spot.

Yet here they are, trailing the Philadelphia 76ers 3-1 in the first round and trying to avoid elimination as they return home for Game 5 Tuesday night.

If the Bulls lose, they will be just the fifth No. 1 seed to fall to an eighth seed. It would also give Philadelphia its first series victory since 2003, a scenario few envisioned when the postseason started.

“It’s been a crazy year from beginning to right now,” guard Richard Hamilton said Monday. “We know that.”

They also realize it’ll take a wild comeback for them to advance, particularly given their injuries. They lost Derrick Rose for the remainder of the season to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee late in the series opener, and center Joakim Noah will likely sit out his second straight game because of a sprained left ankle, leaving them without two of their leaders.

As they staggered back home following Sunday’s 89-82 loss, they sure looked like a beaten team. History says they’re just about finished, too. Only eight teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-7 series.

Hamilton wasn’t conceding anything. He was with Detroit when the Pistons turned the trick in 2003, beating in the first round Orlando after falling behind 3-1 and advancing all the way to the conference finals.

“When we played Orlando, I remember Tracy (McGrady) made a comment saying that it feels good to be going to the second round, so we kind of took that personally,” Hamilton said. “Right now, it’s personal. It’s not just about business. … It’s personal. This is it. You can win and continue playing, or you can go home, so you’ve got to make it personal.”

The 76ers weren’t making any bold statements after Game 4, even though they’re on the verge of a rare feat. The only other eight seeds to knock off a No. 1 are Denver (1994), New York (1999), Golden State (2007) and Memphis last season, when it eliminated San Antonio, but while they put themselves in a good spot, they also got a few words of caution from associate head coach Michael Curry.

Like Hamilton, he played on that 2003 Pistons team.

“I think Michael Curry was great in the locker room yesterday when he talked about the Detroit-Orlando situation,” coach Doug Collins said.

“You can’t go in with the idea we’ve got three games to win one. That would be very bad psychology. We’ve got to go in with the idea that we want to go to Chicago and we want to finish the series.”

Andre Iguodala agreed.

“We’re hungry and we still want it just as bad as if we were down 0-3,” he said. “We’ve got to come in and play like this could be our last game.”

For Chicago, it has simply been a brutal series.

Rose was looking more like an MVP after missing 27 games during the regular season because of injuries when he went down late in Game 1, and the Bulls haven’t been the same without their superstar.

They got plowed over in the second half while dropping Game 2, and things only got worse in Game 3. As if watching their best player go down weren’t enough, they lost one of their emotional leaders after Noah stepped on Iguodala’s foot while driving the lane.

And in Game 4, they again came up short.

Jrue Holiday has been giving them fits, averaging 19.8 points in the series. He nailed two 3-pointers down the stretch on Sunday after struggling most of the game. Spencer Hawes has been a big headache, too, shooting over 57 percent and averaging 12.5 points in the series.

The Bulls, meanwhile, have gotten little from Luol Deng. Carlos Boozer has been inconsistent, and Hamilton can’t even get on the court down the stretch, with coach Tom Thibodeau going with Kyle Korver instead. He sat out the entire final period in each of the first two games and was in for just 27 seconds in Game 4 after playing 9 minutes, 43 seconds in the fourth quarter of Game 3.

“You do (want to play in the fourth), but it is what it is,” Hamilton said. “Whatever they need me to do, I’m going to do. My job is if I’m not on the court in the fourth quarter is to cheer for the next guy because I know the next guy would do the same thing for me.”

The Bulls came in with big expectations, eyeing a possible rematch with Miami in the Eastern Conference finals after grabbing the No. 1 overall seed for the second straight year.
Now, they’re in a spot few envisioned.

“That’s where your mental toughness, your physical toughness come into play,” Thibodeau said. “Hopefully, you’ve been building the right habits all season long to get through situations like this. Every team in the playoffs is going through the same thing. There’s going to be ups and downs. You have to be resilient. You have to persevere. You have to get through things.

“But we have more than enough to win with,” he continued. “We just have to finish it off.”

PHILADELPHIA (AP) The Chicago Bulls have failed at winning one game without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.

Somehow, as they head back home, the top team in the East has to win three without the pair to avoid an ugly ending.

Spencer Hawes scored 22 points and Jrue Holiday had 20 to help the surprising Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls 89-82 on Sunday and take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.

Game 5 is Tuesday in Chicago.

The top-seeded Bulls played without Rose (torn ACL) and Noah (sprained ankle). Rose is out for the season and Noah is day to day for the rest of the series.

In NBA postseason history, the eighth seed has won a first-round series against the No. 1 seed four times, including last season when Memphis eliminated San Antonio. Golden State (2007), New York (1999) and Denver (1994) also pulled off the rare feat.

”We have to find a way,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. ”We’re fighting, but we can do better. We can do a lot better.”

The top-seeded Bulls suddenly fear elimination from a Sixers team one win away from joining the short list of eighth-seeded teams to win a series.

”I’m not worried about it,” Thibodeau said. ”I’m just worried about the next game. We do have more than enough to win with.”

Andre Iguodala had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, who have won the last three games after losing Game 1.

The Sixers won three straight playoff games for the first time since Allen Iverson fueled their run to the 2001 NBA finals.

Holiday was sensational down the stretch after a rocky first 3 1/2 quarters. He missed his first five 3-point attempts until he nailed one to make it 77-73. He hit another the next time down for a seven-point lead to the delight of a roaring sellout crowd.

They were easily his biggest shots on a 7-of-23 night.

”We have to play like it’s Game 7,” Holiday said. ”We want to win in Chicago.”

The undermanned Bulls kept at it and refused to use playing without their two biggest impact players as an excuse. C.J. Watson, who scored 17 points, hit a step-back jumper to make it a two-point game.

In a whistle-happy contest, Holiday went to the line with 51 seconds left and made both for an 84-80 lead.

Suddenly – and shockingly – the Sixers are a win away from taking a playoff series for the first time since 2003.

Carlos Boozer had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls. Taj Gibson chipped in 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Without a full roster, the Bulls barked at the refs, talked trash on the court and used every self-motivational tactic they knew to gain an edge on the Sixers.

Noah, injured in Game 3, took charge on the bench as head cheerleader. Wearing a protective walking boot, he clapped, cheered and offered instruction in the timeout huddle. Noah was needed more on the court than as a de facto assistant coach.

Boozer actively did his best to keep the Bulls in the game. He played through foul trouble to score 18 points through three quarters (matching his combined total for the first two games) and he fought for some of the tough rebounds Noah would grab.

It wasn’t enough.

The Sixers made 22 of 31 free throws to Chicago’s 11-for-14 effort. The Sixers only averaged 18.2 free-throw attempts this season.

”Bottom line, we’ve got to play better defense without fouling,” Boozer said. ”You can’t cry about the referees. It’s the playoffs. If we could hold them to 17, 18 points in the fourth quarter, maybe we win that game.”

Iguodala played through right Achilles’ tendinitis to make so many impact plays for the Sixers. He halted a Bulls run in the third with a 3 for a 57-56 lead. Bad leg and all, he still soared for a thunderous dunk on the break in the first half for an eight-point lead. One of the worst fourth-quarter foul shooters in the NBA, Iguodala even made both with 26.6 seconds left.

”I think the adrenaline carried me through the game,” Iguodala said. ”It’s hard to get on your toes, that’s the hardest thing.”

Game 4 lacked the electric atmosphere early that accompanies a postseason game because the Broad Street Run was routed in front of the sports complex. The Wells Fargo Center was barely half full by tip and the announced crowd of 20,142 needed time to warm up.

By the time Holiday hit his 3s, the arena was going wild.

His sharp shooting in clutch time came at the right time after a slow start.

Holiday and Turner continue to befuddle coach Doug Collins with their inconsistency. The under-25 starting backcourt followed a solid Game 3 with a combined 3 for 22 for eight points in the first half. Lou Williams, perhaps the league’s top reserve, failed to bail them out with a 2-for-10 effort in the game. Their struggles were a key reason the depleted Bulls kept the score tight even without their two stars.

The Sixers crashed the boards early without Noah in the lineup and had 15 second-chance points in the half to grab a 10-point lead.

Hawes hit the go-ahead 20-footer late in the fourth for the Game 3 winner and he continued his hot hand into Sunday. He had made seven of his first eight shots, including a 3-pointer right before the second quarter buzzer to send the Sixers into halftime with 44-42 lead.

NOTES: Boxer Bernard Hopkins, former NBA great Dolph Schayes, former Sixers great Julius Erving and actor Bill Murray attended the game. … Philadelphia last won a playoff series when it beat New Orleans in 2003. … The Sixers hold a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series for the first time since the 1984 East semifinals. … 76ers CEO Adam Aron said there was nothing the team could do about the start time.

The Chicago Bulls will open their NBA playoff run Saturday regardless of their opponent, with starting time yet to be determined, the league said Thursday.

The Bulls will face either New York or Philadelphia in the first round, with the first two games at the United Center. If both teams win or lose Thursday night, the 76ers will play the Bulls. If the Sixers win at Detroit and the Knicks lose at Charlotte, the Bulls would draw the Knicks.

Being the eighth seed and playing the top-seeded Bulls appeared to be a more desirable scenario for Philadelphia than facing the second-seeded Heat.

“We feel confident every time we play against them,” 76ers guard Jrue Holiday told the Tribune’s Vaughn McClure, referring to the Bulls. “Even though they have a good team, we match up really well against them. Even going back to last year, I think we had the upper hand or tied it up with them in the regular season.”

Said 76ers coach Doug Collins of the Bulls: “Their size is a real strength of their team. Plus their big guys are mobile. It’s a little bit different with Miami, if you look at their team right now, they have Chris Bosh. But their concern is how well their big guys are going to play. With Chicago, you have the four bigs. And they have a great bench.

“Against Chicago, they’re going to get into you physically. You better be able to move that ball to get good shots, and you better rebound.”

Other Saturday games will feature the Miami Heat against either the Knicks or the 76ers, the Indiana Pacers hosting the Orlando Magic and the Oklahoma City Thunder at home against either Dallas or Denver.

On Sunday, Boston will play Atlanta in the day’s only Eastern Conference game. Other games will feature the Los Angeles Lakers hosting either Dallas or Denver, while San Antonio hosts Utah and the Los Angeles Clippers face Memphis.