Bulls fall to Pacers |
CHICAGO—The Chicago Bulls (10-14) must've done something to the NBA gods this offseason, as their schedule hasn't done them many favors. Not only has this team endured one of the more challenging schedules to start the season, but they have also played half of their 24 games in six back-to-back stretches.
Four of those back-to-back games in November, with their sixth back-to-back taking place Friday night against the Indiana Pacers (10-14) at the United Center. Seen as an up-and-coming Eastern Conference team, the Pacers have gotten off to a sluggish start this season and find themselves near the bottom of the Eastern Conference with the Bulls. If there was ever a time to capitalize on their early season struggles, this was the game to do it, but coming off a big win on the road on Thursday, many wondered how the Bulls would respond in this one. Early on, the Bulls came out with all the energy as Ayo Dosunmu came out firing with eight first-quarter points to give the Bulls a 35-31 lead. Dosunmu would finish with 15 points, and all five starters for Chicago landed in double figures. Take away the first quarter, and the Bulls outplayed the Pacers most of the game, outscoring them by four in the second half (69-65), as the offense looked good most of the night. Those three quarters combined had the Bulls outscoring the Pacers by eight, but all it took was one rough stretch of play to determine the outcome of this game. Unfortunately for the Bulls, that stretch was an entire quarter. In the second quarter, the Pacers dominated the Bulls and nearly doubled up on the scoreboard 36-19. That was ultimately the difference in this one, with the Pacers coming into Chicago to pick up a 132-123 win. This was one of those games where scoring wasn't an issue for Chicago, with six players reaching at least 10 points. Leading the way for Chicago was Zach Lavine, who had one of his best games in quite some time. He was an efficient 12-22 from the field and 5-9 from distance to lead the Bulls with 32 points. He led all scorers, as Lavine needed a game like this. As mentioned, Dosunmu had another good night with 15 points to back Lavine, but the return of Coby White from a three-game absence made a vast difference offensively. As expected, White struggled to shoot the ball at times as he continues to work back from a sprained ankle, but with 19 points and nine assists, the Bulls will take that production any day. Coming off his season-high 39 points on Thursday, Nikola Vucevic was almost non-existent offensively in this one and had one of his worst showings. He was held to nine rebounds and had 13 points, which didn't help the Bulls comeback attempt. Chicago also saw Josh Giddey round out the starting five with 10 points, with Jalen Smith adding 10 points off the bench. Those were the big offensive threats to Chicago. The Bulls have done a better job getting their bench more involved in offensive production. Even though Friday resulted in a loss, the bench came through with 35 points as they continue to provide this team with a lift. Matas Buzelis continues to see an increase in minutes to finish with eight points. Still, it was Lonzo Ball who came through with a season-high nine points, all of them a result of the three-ball. The Pacers have the offensive talent to be one of the better teams in the league, but for whatever reason, they haven't been able to figure things out this season. Tyrese Haliburton has been one of their bright spots this season, and with 23 points and eight rebounds, he continued to do what he needed to do to put his team in a position to win. It takes more than one player for a team to pick up a victory, and with Pascal Siakam adding 21 points, those two provided Indiana with the perfect 1-2 punch or inside-out combo. While those were the best scoring threats of the night for the Pacers, Indiana still had four other players land in double figures, with two coming off the bench. Benedict Mathurin finished with 19 points, while Myles Turner added 15 to round out the strong showings from the starting five. However, it was the Pacers bench, in particular two guys, that made the biggest difference. They nearly outscored the entire Bulls bench on their own. We are talking about Obi Toppin and TJ McConnell, who finished with 17 points. Toppin especially stood out in this one, knocking down shots from the outside as well as in the paint. He also put his entire arsenal on display by adding seven rebounds and five assists in just 21 minutes. Chicago will return on the floor Sunday to face a reeling Philadelphia team before getting nearly a week off from game action.
