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Chicago Bulls shoot 60% at home, still lose to the Indiana Pacers

The Bulls' defense went missing as they lost to Indiana to drop back into the Eastern Conference basement.
Stephen Beslic|
Chicago Bulls shoot 60% at home, still lose to the Indiana Pacers
Chicago Bulls shoot 60% at home, still lose to the Indiana Pacers

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Chicago BullsIndiana Pacers

The Chicago Bulls' hopes for a spot in the play-in tournament suffered another gutwrenching blow as the Indiana Pacers defeated them 125-122. The Bulls looked promising after the All-Star break, winning three of four to spark their hopes of making it to the postseason.

Since they've lost their last two, they dropped into a tie with the Pacers at 29-36. However, the Pacers hold the tiebreaker as they won the season series 3-1. This leaves the Bulls in 12th place, a game and a half away from the 10th-place Washington Wizards.

Clutch shortcomings

Last season saw the Bulls emerge as the third-best team in "clutch" situations, which the league defines as games within five points in the last five minutes of regulation or overtime. This season, however, they've been unable to close out tight contests, suffering many heartbreaking losses. The Bulls are just 11-22 this season during such close games—good for third-worst in the league. Sunday saw them drop another close one, as Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sank a 30-foot triple that gave his team the lead for good with 2.7 seconds remaining.

Afterward, Bulls coach Billy Donovan lamented his team's inability to come away with wins in close games, although he could not pinpoint what's keeping them from doing so.

"We have not closed games well this year," the coach said. "It's not one thing. It's been different things."

Beaten on the glass

The Bulls were scorching hot from the field, making over 60% of their shots for the night. Despite this impressive stat, Chicago still came away with a loss. How come? Well, they got outworked on the offensive glass, losing the battle 13-4. Eventually, Indiana shot the ball 20 more times than Chicago. Obviously, this is not a recipe for success.

"We just have to rebound it. That's what it was. We lost it on offensive rebounding," said Bulls guard Patrick Beverley.

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Stephen Beslic
STEPHEN BESLIC

Stephen Beslic is a writer on Sports Illustrated's FanNation Network. Stephen played basketball from the age of 10 and graduated from Faculty of Economic and Business in Zagreb, Croatia, majoring in Marketing.

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