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Held under 100 points for the first time this
season, the Pacers (41-33) are one game ahead of the idle Miami
Heat (39-33) for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Indiana
has clinched a top-10 spot but hopes to avoid the play-in
tournament by staying in the conference's top six.
Chicago (35-38) stayed at ninth in the East, 1 1/2 games ahead
of the Atlanta Hawks (33-39), who occupy the final play-in spot.
Indiana opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run to trim the
Chicago advantage to 14 points. The Bulls answered with their
first field goal of the quarter on an Alex Caruso trey at the
9:33 mark and then continued to fight off the Pacers, who used a
12-2 run midway through the third to draw within seven.
The Bulls kept responding and led by as many as 29 late in the
game.
Andrew Nembhard sparked Indiana with 18 points, while Pascal
Siakam had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Tyrese
Haliburton scored 13 points, and Myles Turner and T.J. McConnell
chipped in 12 apiece.
Vucevic contributed 22 points and 12 rebounds for Chicago.
Drummond had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Coby White (18
points), Ayo Dosunmu (17) and Caruso (12) also scored in double
figures.
A 55.6 percent shooting effort from the floor boosted the Bulls
to a 64-43 halftime lead.
Javonte Green helped fuel the Bulls' defensive tenacity in his
first appearance with the team this season. Green, who spent
parts of the past three seasons with the Bulls, had been playing
for the Golden State Warriors' G-League affiliate before signing
a 10-day contract with the Bulls on Friday.
Chicago limited Indiana to 35 percent shooting en route to the
Pacers' lowest-scoring first half this season.
--Field Level Media
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