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The Chicago Bulls nearly complete a big comeback in a loss to the Indiana Pacers

The Bulls lost the second of their last three games.

Stephen Beslic

© Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
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The Chicago Bulls wiped out a 25-point deficit and took the lead in the final period but simply couldn’t hold on as they bowed to the Indiana Pacers, 104-120, on Thursday night.

Chicago failed to complete what could have been an epic comeback, falling to its second loss in the last three games to drop to 14-19 on the season. The Bulls are 3-2 in their current six-game homestand, which will end on Saturday against the Philadelphia Sixers.

Near comeback for the Bulls

The Pacers built two 25-point leads in the third period, the last one at the 6:43 mark of the quarter, where they surged to an 83-58 cushion.

Chicago slowly chipped away and closed the third period down by just eight, 77-85. The momentum carried over into the final period, with the Bulls starting the final frame on a 16-5 run and suddenly founding themselves up by three, 93-90.

Indiana, however, answered with its own run, as Tyrese Haliburton nailed back-to-back three-pointers that allowed the Pacers to retake the lead, 99-93.

A three-point play by Myles Turner increased Indiana’s lead to 102-93. Then, a 7-4 run restored a double-digit lead for Indiana, and Chicago couldn’t make another serious run to yield the win.

Patrick Williams led the Bulls with 22 points, while DeMar DeRozan finished with 21 markers. Coby White had 16 points, while Alex Caruso and Andre Drummond added 15 points each.

The Bulls played without Zach Lavine for the 14th straight game, with Nikola Vucevic and Torrey Craig also missing yesterday's contest.

A big night for Tyrese

Haliburton led the Pacers with 21 points and a career-high 20 assists. He became the fifth player in NBA history to have 20 or more assists without a turnover, joining Kevin Porter (1978), John Lucas (1983), Rickey Green (1984), and Chris Paul (2016).

Turner had 24 points, and Buddy Hield contributed 19 points for the Pacers, who improved to 16-14.

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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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