Keys to Chicago Bulls' home game vs. Indiana Pacers

Coming off a comeback win against Boston, the Bulls (2-2) will host the Indiana Pacers (1-3) at 8:00 PM ET. Hoping to build on Monday's success, Billy Donovan's team will look to hand the Pacers their second straight loss after they fell to the Philadelphia 76ers, 120-106.

The battle of backcourts

Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana in scoring against Philly with 19 points. Four games into the season, the 22-year-old point guard has been the Pacers' best player, averaging 24 points and 9.8 assists on 52.4 FG% and 43.5 3P%.

Rookie standout Bennedict Mathurin has become the team's second scoring option in the absence of Myles Turner who is out with an ankle injury. And while the 6-5 shooting guard struggled against the Sixers -- he put up 15 of his season-low 17 points in the second half -- he's still averaging 22.3 points per game for the season.

The Bulls will once again be without their starting point guard Lonzo Ball, and Zach LaVine is slowly coming back form injury, despite averaging 30 minutes in two games he's played so far. So a lot of defensive duties will fall on Ayo Dosunmu, as well as Alex Caruso coming off the bench.

Don't try to outshoot the Pacers

Four games into the season, the Pacers are second in the league in 3PAs behind only the Celtics. Rick Carlisle's team is converting 33.1% of their 40.8 attempts per game, with Buddy Hield and Mathurin shooting the highest volume from long range.

The Bulls are only attempting 28.3 threes per game -- they sit 37-for-113 (32.7 percent ) on the season. And while Chicago's lack of 3pt shooting is an issue, it's also something they shouldn't try to resolve tonight.

With the Pacers' No.1 shot blocker possibly sidelined for tonight's game, the Bulls' focus on offense should be Nikola Vucevic, who's coming off a huge birthday performance -- 18 points and 23 rebounds -- in a win against the Celtics.

Noteworthy

the Bulls beat the Pacers 112-115 in their last meeting on February 4, 2022; Vucevic dropped a season-high 36 points
Chicago beat Indiana four of the last five times,
the two teams split their 10 last matchups
Bulls' projected lineup: Dosunmu, LaVine, DeRozan, Williams, Vucevic
Pacers' projected lineup: Haliburton, Hield, Nesmith, Smith, Jackson
Injury Report: Lonzo Ball is out for the Bulls with a knee injury; Pacers' big man Daniel Theis is out with a sore knee; Myles Turner is listed as questionable