The Chicago Bulls couldn’t final greater than three video games with out a collapse.
Tuesday night time’s recreation at Gainbridge Fieldhouse ought to have been an opportunity for the Bulls to make a leap within the Eastern Conference standings. With Tyrese Haliburton sidelined by a sprained elbow and bruised knee, the Indiana Pacers had drifted tantalizingly inside attain as a seven-game skid dropped them to a half-game forward of the Bulls by Monday.
And for some time, the whole lot was going proper. The Bulls took an early 21-point lead. The Pacers appeared outmatched on each ends of the court docket.
What adopted has change into an inevitable, exhausting routine. The Bulls slumped popping out of halftime. The Pacers took full benefit, slicing the lead and tying the sport within the remaining 5 minutes.
And within the remaining seconds, the Bulls couldn’t get something proper.
With 27.5 seconds left, Nikola Vučević couldn’t discover an inbound outlet. He known as a timeout and the Bulls reset the offense — solely to throw the second probability straight into the fingertips of Pacers guard Buddy Hield, who took the ball full court docket earlier than establishing Aaron Nesmith for 2 free throws and a 114-110 lead.
Zach LaVine obtained two appears to be like to scrape the lead down to a degree, solely to journey with 7.6 seconds left.
After squandering a shot to leapfrog certainly one of their closest rivals, the Bulls are 8-15 in clutch video games.
The lows
- A 3rd-quarter deflation has change into the norm for the Bulls, and Tuesday’s recreation was no completely different. The Bulls had been outscored 34-25 within the third after the Pacers began the half with an 11-4 run. The tone of the sport visibly shifted because the Bulls appeared to lose their self-discipline, notably in a brutal stretch when Myles Turner pulled the chair on Vučević in an tried post-up, LaVine missed a steal to permit a dunk on the following play and DeMar DeRozan was stuffed on the rim. The Bulls nonetheless maintained a seven-point lead on the finish of the quarter, however the momentum swung within the Pacers’ path.
- The Bulls had been unable to manage their combustion within the fourth quarter. The Pacers tied the sport after DeRozan dedicated his fifth foul with 4:57 remaining, and T.J. McConnell flew round Ayo Dosunmu for a reverse layup that gave the Pacers their first lead 30 seconds later. The Pacers went on an 11-2 run from the 5:48 mark to the three:53 mark to take a 105-102 lead.
The highs
- The Bulls began the sport on the correct foot, main 62-41 within the second quarter and carrying a 16-point lead into halftime. They shot 55% from discipline within the first half, outrebounded the Pacers 32-25 and logged 10 assists on their 22 makes.
- DeRozan and Vučević anchored the Bulls offense even because it fell aside within the second half. DeRozan scored 33 factors on 14-for-21 capturing, whereas Vučević scored 20 on 9-for-14 capturing and hit each of his 3-point makes an attempt.
- Coby White supplied a lift within the second quarter, scoring all eight of his factors in that quarter. White’s capturing struggled the remainder of the sport, nevertheless, and he completed 2-for-7 from 3-point vary and 3-for-11 from the sphere.
Stat of the sport
The Pacers discombobulated the Bulls offense by layering on strain at a excessive level of assault, using excessive hedges on screens on the high of the important thing to maintain major attackers similar to DeRozan from driving simply to the rim.
The Bulls coughed up 16 turnovers within the loss — seven of them unforced. Six of these turnovers occurred within the fourth quarter, together with LaVine’s touring violation with 7.6 seconds remaining to seal the loss.
Injury report
The Bulls once more had been lacking backup guard Goran Dragić because of a non-COVID sickness.
The Pacers had been lacking star guard Haliburton, who hasn’t performed since Jan. 11 due to a sprained left elbow and bruised left knee.
Where they stand
The Bulls dropped to 22-25 and stay tenth within the Eastern Conference.
Up subsequent
The Bulls will proceed their highway journey Thursday in Charlotte in opposition to the Hornets earlier than visiting the Orlando Magic on Saturday.
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com