Indiana Pacers have dreadful offensive night and fall to Chicago Bulls on the road

The Pacers finished a road trip tonight

Mar 27, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) defends Indiana / David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Indiana Pacers were in Chicago on Wednesday night to take on the Bulls. It was the final of four games between the Central Division foes in 2023-24 — the Bulls won two of the first three, so the season series was at stake in the United Center.

The road team won the first three meetings in the matchup, with Chicago winning recently in Indianapolis thanks to an epic performance from DeMar DeRozan. The Pacers were hoping to avoid that result again, and they got good news before the game as Aaron Nesmith was returning from injury. He could help defend the Bulls' star guard.

Andrew Nembhard had the assignment of defending DeRozan early, but it was actually Nembhard's offense that got the Pacers going. He had the team's first five points, and his defense was strong. Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton followed up Nembhard's start with a pair of outside shots, and it led to a timeout from Chicago.

Much of the first quarter was a defensive battle. Earlier in this season, the Pacers wouldn't have been able to keep up in a game like this — but their defense has been much better this month. Even with shots not falling for the blue and gold, they were ahead 15-11 after about eight minutes of play.

Indiana's cold offense held them down too much, though. After scoring 11 points in under four minutes to start the game, they dropped in just six in the next six minutes of play, and they trailed 19-17 with 2:21 left in the first period. The Pacers needed some offensive juice — they were 6/18 from the field at the time.

Myles Turner hit a shot late in the first frame to get Indiana to 21 points, and it was the team's first bucket by a non-guard of the night. They needed to get their frontcourt going if they wanted to have a chance.

After 12 minutes, the Bulls led 27-23. Ayo Dosunmu led Chicago with eight points while the Pacers were guided by six from Haliburton. The blue and gold needed to find a way to get their offense going, their start was ugly.

Both teams finally heated up the scoreboard to start the second quarter. The Pacers scored eight points in about two minutes to open the period, and the Bulls were scoring enough to hold their lead. The ugly outing to the game appeared to be a thing of the past.

Chicago did well to hold their advantage across the next few minutes. Even during Indiana's best stretches, they weren't able to put a dent in their deficit. With 7:22 left in the first half, the visitors trailed 40-34. The Bulls balanced attack was giving them trouble.

It continued to do so over the next few minutes, and with five minutes left in the first half, the hosts took a 10-point lead at 49-39. Indiana looked sluggish and couldn't get stops. Chicago was 6/10 from deep at the time.

The Bulls were on a run at the time, and it reached 14-2 with 2:53 to go in the second period. They were rolling. The hosts were getting whatever shot they wanted and forcing the Pacers into misses, the never-ending goals of every NBA team.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle called multiple timeouts during the Bulls dominant run of play, but they didn't help his team. Instead, they fell down by as much as 23 in the first half, and they trailed 64-43 at halftime. It was a butt kicking. The Pacers were behind 42-37 with six minutes to go in the first half, but they fell apart in the final stretch and were shooting just 35% from the field at the break.

The Pacers had to be better in the second half if they wanted to even have a chance to win — 43 points was their fewest in any half this season. They opened the third quarter strong, though, and cut into the Bulls edge with a 7-0 run in 105 seconds.

Chicago responded and was able to hold their lead at roughly 15 for the next few minutes, but it was clear that the blue and gold had more energy in the second half. They were making the Bulls uncomfortable and playing with more force.

A few minutes later, Haliburton hit a layup that trimmed Chicago's edge to nine. It was under 10 points for the first time of the second half, and the Pacers were starting to round into form. They still had work to do, but they were the much better team for the first seven minutes of the third quarter.

The Bulls took a timeout at the moment, but Indiana scored the next points out of the stoppage as they continued to push. Their pace looked far better in the third quarter than it did at any point in the first half, and the home team didn't appear to be ready for it.

Down the stretch of the quarter, Chicago finally had some answers. Andre Drummond was a tough matchup for the blue and gold down low, and DeRozan hit a few shots. Over the last few minutes of the third frame, the home team ballooned their lead back to 13 — they were ahead 87-74 with one period remaining. Nembhard was leading the Pacers with 18 points.

The fourth quarter started with slower play from the Pacers again, who watched their deficit grow for a few minutes. They couldn't keep Chicago out of the lane or get there themselves, which was a difficult combination to overcome.

Indiana tried a smaller lineup in an attempt to score more points, but it wasn't helping enough. They were still down big and only had about eight minutes to mount a comeback. Without nearly perfect play the rest of the way, they were going to lose.

With 6.5 minutes left in the game, the Bulls lead grew back to 20. It was all but over. Indiana looked off for much of the night, and it was going to cost them. Barring a miracle, they were going to lose. It was one of their worst offensive nights of the year.

The Pacers cleared their bench soon after. The result was all but decided. They just needed to get to the finish line and get home after a long road trip. All that remained to be decided was if this would be the lowest scoring game of the blue and gold's season.

They finished with 99 points, their lowest of the campaign. The Bulls ended up beating the Pacers 125-99. Chicago clinched the season series over Indiana, and the head to head tiebreaker.

Nembhard finished with 18 points. Pascal Siakam had 14 points and eight rebounds. Haliburton added 13 points.

The Pacers return home on Friday as they host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

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