FINAL: Indiana 125 Bulls 86 (14-26, 5-16 on the road)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: Portis: 15. Pacers: Oladipo: 23.
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Markkanen and Valentine each with 5. Pacers: Joseph: 10.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Dunn: 8. Pacers: Oladipo: 9.
CCI 24 SECONDS COMMENTARY: The Bulls were exhausted. I’m not here to give you excuses nor will I ever, but the bottom line is this: The second game of a back to back, seven games in 11 days, arriving at 3 AM from Dallas, playing a well rested Pacers’ ball club is not a good recipe for success. The Bulls weren’t sharp mentally or physically and it showed. They committed 16 turnovers which lead to 23 Indiana points. Indiana outscored the Bulls 33-11 in the second quarter and that was the ballgame. The Bulls will get today off after a grueling week and will have another game coming up tomorrow against Houston. It’s time to move on after this one in Indianapolis. Victor Oladipo returned to the Pacers’ lineup and was fabulous.
NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Detroit beat the Rockets. Houston took 47 3-point field goals and shot 32% from that range.
LeBron James came one assist shy of a triple double in the Cavs win over the Magic. Isaiah Thomas made his first start and scored 19 points.
Steph Curry with a season high 45 points (30 minutes) as the Warriors beat the Clippers. In four games since returning to the lineup after missing 11 games with an ankle injury, Curry is averaging 36 points on 58% from the field and 54% from 3 point range. That’s pretty good, right? The Clippers Blake Griffin suffered a concussion.
Boston improved to 33-10 with a two point win over the Nets. Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie was frustrated with officiating in the game and let the media know about it afterward.
Vintage Vince Carter lead the Kings over Denver. Carter scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota blasted NOLA by 18 and finished the first half of the season nine games over.500.
Big win for the Bucks on the road in DC topping the Wizards. Giannis had 34. He has scored at least 20 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in 27 consecutive games. Matthew Dellavedova was ejected for wrapping up Bradley Beal around the neck.
The Spurs announced Kawhi Leonard will miss tonight’s game against Portland with a left shoulder strain. Leonard missed the first 27 games of the season with a quad injury.
Thanks for reading CCI. Email me at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls.
Always a pleasure and Go Bulls!