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Game Rewind: Pacers 96, Bulls 90

Game Recap

Back at home after a four-game road trip out West, the Pacers (14-10) gutted out a 96-90 victory over the Chicago Bulls (5-20) on Monday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Darren Collison scored 18 of his season-high 23 points after halftime for Indiana, while Myles Turner was a monster on both ends, racking up 18 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks in the victory.

"It wasn't a pretty win," Turner said. "But wins are hard to come by in this league and we got it done."

It was more of the same for the Bulls despite making a coaching change on Monday. Chicago fired head coach Fred Hoiberg and replaced him with assistant Jim Boylen, but it didn't make a difference against Indiana as the Bulls dropped their seventh straight game.

The Pacers fell into an early hole, as Chicago jumped out to an early 12-6 lead, but the Blue & Gold responded. Indiana reeled off a 15-0 run to seize control of the game, holding the Bulls scoreless on 10 consecutive possessions.

Turner gave the hosts a nice boost to start the game, tallying 10 points in the first quarter alone on 4-of-7 shooting.

The Bulls rediscovered their shooting stroke late in the first quarter, however. Chicago closed the frame with a 9-2 run and then scored the first six points of the second quarter to move back in front.

The visitors led by as many as six points and took a 45-43 lead into the break thanks to Lauri Markkanen's turnaround jumper with 10 seconds left in the second quarter.

Collison gave Indiana a boost in the third quarter, scoring 12 points in the frame, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor (2-for-2 from 3-point range) and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

"I just tried to be more aggressive," Collison said. "Usually I'm getting my guys involved and deferring to them, but tonight I saw something. I had to be a little more aggressive.

"I saw the tempo of the game, we (weren't) really getting any easy buckets, so I tried to push the pace a little bit more."

The third quarter alone featured six ties and 15 lead changes, but it was the Pacers who emerged from the period nursing a narrow 70-67 lead.

Opening the fourth quarter with a lineup featuring Thaddeus Young and four bench players, the Pacers built up an eight-point lead over the first five minutes of the final frame.

The Blue & Gold held the Bulls at bay over the next several minutes. Cameron Payne's 3-pointer with 1:38 remaining trimmed the deficit to 88-85, but Turner buried a mid-range jumper on the other end to make it a two-possession game once again.

Zach LaVine missed on each of Chicago's next two possessions, allowing Indiana to seal the win at the free throw line. Teams tend to struggle in their first game back home after a West Coast trip, but the Blue & Gold found a way to grind out a victory on Tuesday.

"It's not easy," Collison said. "Everybody's sleep schedule is off right now, it's tough...I thought tonight we did a good job of not letting that get to us mentally and just coming out and playing."

Bojan Bogdanovic added 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and pulled down six rebounds in the win, while Tyreke Evans chipped in 10 points. Domantas Sabonis did not score in the first half, but still nearly registered a double-double, finishing with nine points and 11 boards.

Markkanen led Chicago with 21 points and 10 rebounds, going 5-for-13 from 3-point range in just his second game back from a sprained elbow injury that sidelined him for the first 23 games of the season.

Justin Holiday added 15 points for the Bulls, while Wendell Carter Jr. had 12 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists.

The Pacers have two days off before returning to action on Friday in Orlando and will be back at The Fieldhouse on Saturday to host the Sacramento Kings on the second night of a back-to-back.

Thaddeus Young Lauri Markkanen

Photo Credit: NBAE/Getty Images

Inside the Numbers

In addition to setting a season high in points, Collison also had a season-best eight rebounds on Tuesday.

After matching his career high with six blocks in Indiana's win in Chicago on Nov. 2, Turner then followed up with five more blocks against the Bulls on Tuesday. The Pacers' fourth-year center has had at least three blocks in eight of his past 11 games.

The Bulls attempted just five free throws on Tuesday, the fewest attempts from the charity stripe by any team in an NBA
game this season.

The Pacers held Chicago to 39.4 percent shooting on the night and are now 4-0 on the season when holding their opponent under 40 percent.

The Pacers and Bulls tied in points in the paint (42-42), second-chance points (12-12), and fastbreak points (11-11).

You Can Quote Me On That

"Thad (Young) had played a lot of minutes in the fourth quarter and I wanted to give him a breather and that combination of Sabonis and Myles looked pretty good in the first half. They were small, and they scored a couple buckets but offensively I thought it gave us something we could go with and I wanted to go with that and try that again in the second half." -Pacers coach Nate McMillan on closing the game with both Turner and Sabonis on the floor

"I told Myles if he didn't block those shots, who knows where the game would have been. We probably would have been down 10. Myles has been doing that for the last four, five games...Tonight, it just seemed like there was nothing easy inside. It discourages a lot of players (from driving)." -Collison on Turner's rim protection

"It was fun. It was just a blessing to be honest. Seeing him out there hooping, having fun, that's all I could really ask for, so it's a really great experience for me." -Pacers rookie guard Aaron Holiday on playing against his brother Justin for the first time in a regular season NBA game

"I really like this team. I like these guys. I thought we competed. I thought we battled. They (the Pacers) are a big, physical team. I'm proud of this group. We have a lot of mistakes to clean up, we have a lot of things I think we have to get better at." -new Bulls coach Jim Boylen

"Regardless of changes in any situation of life, there's going to be an adjustment period, no matter what it is. So, it feels different, but at the same time, it does feel good how we played today, when we were out on the floor we stayed together, we played well together." -Holiday on the coaching change

Stat of the Night

Collison's 23 points were six more than his season high and they came on just seven shots. The veteran point guard went 6-for-7 from the field, 3-for-4 from 3-point range, and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.

Noteworthy

  • Pacers All-Star guard Victor Oladipo missed his eighth straight game on Monday with a sore right knee. There is no timetable for his return.
  • The Pacers are 2-0 on the season against the Bulls. The two Central Division rivals meet twice more this season: in Chicago on Jan. 4 and in Indianapolis on March 5.
  • Tuesday's win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Pacers, who have not lost three consecutive games in over 11 months. Indiana's last losing streak of more than two games came when it dropped five straight contests from Dec. 26-Jan. 3.
  • Hip hop legend MC Hammer was honored pregame along with Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. Hammer is on the board of The Last Mile, a California-based non-profit dedicated to teaching technology and business skills training to imprisoned men, women and juveniles behind bars. The program recently expanded to Indiana.

Next Up

The Pacers travel to Orlando for their first meeting of the season against the Magic on Friday, Dec. 7 at 7:00 PM ET.

Tickets

The Pacers return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to host De'Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

Special Offer - Pacers Win

Jack's Donuts: Visit your local Jack's Donuts the day after a Pacers victory and mention the Pacers win to receive a free twelve ounce coffee with any purchase. Visit JacksDonuts.com to find the Jack's Donuts nearest you.