Pacers Close Road Trip With 125-99 Blowout Loss to Bulls

1. First Quarter

After a dominant second half against the LA Clippers on Monday night, the Indiana Pacers started tonight’s game converting three of their first seven shots. Andrew Nembhard was responsible for two of those baskets. From that point until the end of the quarter, Indiana was five for sixteen. They were ahead 13-9 after a pair of Pascal Siakam free throws with 6:32 remaining. T.J. McConnell reestablished that four-point lead with a pullup jumper with 4:26 left. That would be the last time Indiana had a two-possession lead. Chicago responded with a 10-2 run. Ayo Dosunmu tied the game at 17 before Alex Caruso gave the Bulls the lead for good. In total, Chicago outscored Indiana in the first quarter 27-23. Dosunmu led all scorers in the quarter with 9 points followed by 6 points from Tyrese Haliburton, McConnell, and Nikola Vucevic.

2. Second Quarter

Indiana’s offensive struggles carried over from the first quarter into the second quarter. Additionally, Chicago’s offense caught fire. The Bulls only missed six shots in total in the second, whereas the Pacers only made six shots in the period. Offensively the quarter started out well. Indiana trimmed its deficit to two points after a McConnell layup and then again after a Myles Turner three. With 6:42 left in the half, Nembhard canned a three to cut Chicago’s lead to 40-34. The wheels then fell off after that. Chicago went on a 22-6 run to take a go ahead comfortably 62-40. Vucevic was the spark offensively, scoring seven of the points during the stretch. He later gave the Bulls their biggest lead of the half with a floater in the final minute of the half. It was 64-41 and Nembhard converted a mid-range jumper to make it 64-43 at halftime. Vucevic led all scorers with 15 points. Nembhard and Dosunmu each had 11 points and DeRozan was the only other player in double figures with 10 points.

3. Third Quarter

With the deficit for Indiana to start the second half at twenty-one points, it would take two strong quarters for the Pacers. The third quarter was a good quarter, like it normally is for the blue and gold. Coming out of the locker room, they started the second half with a 7-0 run with Nembhard scoring five and Siakam scoring the other two. It took some time for them, but with five minutes left in the third, Haliburton scored a layup to make it 71-62. The closest Indiana would get in the game after falling behind by a seismic amount was 71-64 after two free throws from T.J. McConnell with 4:14 left in the third. Chicago outscored Indiana the final 4:14 by six to lead 87-74. Nembhard led all scorers with 18 points. Chicago’s leading scorer was Vucevic with 17 points followed by DeRozan with 16 points and Dosunmu with 15 points.

4. Fourth Quarter

The 37-points that Chicago scored in the second quarter would be the second most points scored in a quarter in tonight’s game. They topped that by a point in the final twelve minutes. They quickly pushed the lead back to 18 points with a Coby White layup. Aaron Nesmith made his first, and only, shot of the contest that made it 99-85 with 7:48 left. The Bulls responded with a 6-0 burst to go back ahead by twenty points. The most Chicago led by was twenty-nine points after a layup from Torey Craig with 1:03 left in the game. The final basket of the game was a three from Doug McDermott that made it 125-99. In the fourth, White and DeRozan each scored 11 points. Indiana scored 25 as team.

5. Top Performers

DeMar DeRozan (27p, 6r), Nikola Vucevic (22p, 12r), Coby White (18p, 7r), Ayo Dosunmu (17p, 4a, 3r), Andre Drummond (14p, 11r), and Alex Caruso (12p, 7r, 7a). Indiana’s leaders were Andrew Nembhard (18p, 5r), Pascal Siakam (14p, 8r, 5a), Tyrese Haliburton (13p, 5a, 4r), Myles Turner (12p, 4r), and T.J. McConnell (12p, 4a). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Indiana’s 99 points are the fewest points they have scored in a game this season
• Indiana’s field-goal percentage of 40% is the worst shooting performance of the season
• Indiana’s 43 points in the first half were the fewest points scored in a half this season
• Indiana is now 0-18 when scoring 110 points or less
• Chicago snapped its three-game losing streak with the win
  • They win the season series by taking three of the four games
• Pascal Siakam’s 7 field goal attempts are the fewest as an Indiana Pacer & this season
• Tyrese Haliburton started the game by making his first two shots (both threes)
  • Went 2/13 the rest of the game from the field and 1/9 from three-point range
• Andrew Nembhard’s 18 points are the most points scored in a game since 1/26/24 vs Phoenix when he scored 22 points
  • 3rd highest scoring game of the season (19 points in game before vs Philadelphia 76ers on 1/25/24)
• J. McConnell has now scored 10+ points in nine of his last ten games
• DeMar DeRozan scored 20+ points for the 51st time of the season
• Nikola Vucevic recorded his 32nd game with 20+ points
  • Recorded his 41st double-double of the season
• Andrew Drummond registered his 15th double-double on the year
• Indiana sits 6th in the Eastern Conference Standings
  • Trail New York Knicks by 4 games for 4th
  • Trail Orlando Magic by 2 games for 5th
  • Have 1 game lead over Miami Heat
  • Have 1.5 game lead over Philadelphia 76ers

7. Next Up

Indiana returns home Friday for the first of two games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Los Angeles Lakers are in town for their only visit to Indianapolis followed by the Brooklyn Nets on Monday. Friday’s tip is scheduled for 7pm. Pat Boylan, Mark Boyle, and Eddie Gill’s coverage will start at 6:30pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.