Bulls come up short against Pacers

Trevor Ruszkowski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 7 hours ago

INDIANAPOLIS - Just when the Chicago Bulls (24-37) started to get into a groove with their new-look roster, adversity struck as Ayo Dosunmu was shut down for the remainder of the season and will need shoulder surgery. If that wasn't bad enough, you had both Lonzo Ball (Wrist) and Kevin Huerter (Calf) scratched ahead of Sunday's game with the Indiana Pacers (34-25) at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, making an already challenging matchup that much tougher.

Throw in Nikola Vucevic, who missed yet another game, and the Bulls were extremely short-handed against an excellent Pacers team starting to play their best ball of the season. Short-handed or not, you would've never guessed that as the Bulls gave the Pacers all they could handle most of the game and trailed by just two possessions midway through the fourth quarter.

That is when the Pacers put the pedal to the medal as the Bulls ran out of gas down the stretch and fell to the Pacers 127-112. Not only were the Bulls down just one after one-quarter of play, but they managed to hold a 67-66 lead at the half. Coby White played a massive role in that, as he scored 20 of his team-high 26 points in the first half before cooling down late.

With Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis adding 18 points and 16 more from Zach Collins, who continues to play well in the starting lineup, the Bulls managed to remain within striking distance most of the game, trailing by just three entering the fourth. Those four also combined to make eight of the Bulls' 10 made triples, and that is with Giddey going 0-4 after shooting better than 70% in his last seven games from distance.

While most of the Bulls' starting lineup played well enough to win, Dalen Terry didn't, as he was held to just two points in 19 minutes. That meant that the Bulls' bench would have to come through if the Bulls wanted to rally late. Chicago did get solid production from Tre Jones, who dropped 11 points, with former Pacer Jalen Smith adding 10, but outside of that, the Bulls' bench struggled, which led to their undoing in the fourth.

A big reason for the Pacers success since the later part of January has been a balanced scoring attack that involves the entire starting lineup. That continued to be the case in this one as all five starters scored in double figures, including two with 20 points. Leading all scorers in the game, Aaron Nesmith, who connected on six triples to finish with 27 points. Pascal Siakam added 20 points as the Pacers had a great inside/out connection.

Those may have been the big two for the Indiana offense, but Tyrese Haliburton was the engine that made them go. Haliburton didn't have his typical game when it comes to points (17), but he did dish out 12 assists as he played a role in this team's success in so many ways. With Myles Turner adding 16 points and Andrew Nembhard 11 points, the Pacers continued to display the balanced offensive attack that will lead to some postseason success.

Like the Bulls, the Pacers bench was almost non-existent, as they had to rely on their starters far more often than they would've liked. TJ McConnell did come away with 11 points, with Ben Sheppard adding nine, which was otherwise a very quiet night for the Pacers bench. Chicago will be back on the court Tuesday when they face the best team in the game, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland is riding a 10-game winning streak as they are gunning to clinch the East this season.

OSCEOLA HAULTS WINDY CITY WINNING STREAK AT THREE

Like their parent Club, the Chicago Bulls, Windy City has gotten into a little groove of late and has been playing its best basketball in months. Entering Sunday's game with the Osceola Magic on a three-game winning streak, all good things must come to an end, as the Magic hammered the Bulls 132-101.

This game was ultimately lost in the third quarter as the Magic came out break flying and outscored the Bulls 37-15 after being tied at the half. Take that quarter out of the mix, and the Bulls played with the Magic through three quarters, but this is a four-quarter game, and you need to finish. There were some positive takeaways for the Bulls, with the biggest being Emmanuel Miller, who finished the game with his best performance since joining the Bulls with 27 points and nine boards.

Jordan Hall also came up huge by adding 20 points in 37 minutes, as those were the Bulls' two main scorers. Newly acquired Jahmir Young has been a nice addition for the Bulls, and with 16 points, he continued to play well for his new team. Not only did Osceola have plenty of offensive firepower, but they had a pair of guys who accounted for nearly half of the team's points.

Myron Gardner led all scorers with 30 points on 13 of 16 scoring and added 12 rebounds for an impressive double-double. He was the only starter to secure at least 20 points, but with Jarrett Culver coming away with 28 points off the bench and 12 rebounds of his own, Lakeland had two players who took over the game whenever they wanted.