© Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Chicago Bulls come up big in crunchtime to defeat the Indiana Pacers, 112-105
The Chicago Bulls pulled off all the stops in crunchtime to come away with a 112-105 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. While DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine struggled to find their mark, the other member of the Bulls “Big 3” stepped up, as Nikola Vucevic had 24 points, nine of which came in the fourth quarter when Chicago pulled away late.
The victory evened the Bulls’ record up at 2-2, while the Pacers suffered their first loss in three games this season.
Bigtime in crunchtime
It was a dogfight down the stretch, but the Bulls had enough firepower to pull off the hard-earned win. After being tied for the last time at 99-all, DeRozan and LaVine scored buckets to give the Bulls a 103-102 lead.
A triple by Pacers big man Myles Turner brought them to within one, but the Bulls countered with another basket by DeRozan and an and-one by Vucevic for a 108-102 cushion with 1:55 left in the game.
The Pacers continued to threaten, but LaVine and Alex Caruso made free throws in the game’s waning moments to secure the Bulls’ win.
Played downhill
The Bulls have apparently learned lessons from their previous losses wherein they failed to recognize the advantage they had inside. This time around, Bulls coach Billy Donovan was pleased with the way his team “played downhill” down the stretch.
“The last five minutes, we played downhill,” Donovan said. “We played down to the basket, at the basket. We're not trying to win by shooting jump shots.”
Aside from scoring, Vucevic also had his way on the glass, hauling down 17 rebounds including five of the offensive variety to help give the Bulls additional looks at the basket.
“If we can get everybody involved and play downhill, there's plenty to go around for everybody to eat,” Donovan added.
LaVine had 23 points while DeRozan put up 20 markers. However, the two prolific wingmen struggled from the field, combining to make just 12 of their 36 attempts. However, they made hay from the free-throw line, making 18 of 19 from the stripe.
