10 observations: Tyrese Haliburton leads Pacers past Bulls
10 observations: Tyrese Haliburton leads Pacers past Bulls originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Bulls dropped to 3-2 on their season-high, six-game homestand Thursday night at the United Center.
Here are 10 observations from their 120-104 loss to the Indiana Pacers:
---The Pacers entered as the league’s highest-scoring and best-shooting team and also second in PACE. But they also entered ranked 28th in defense, which Pacers coach Rick Carlisle tried to address recently with starting lineup changes. It’s a work in progress, but Carlisle said it’s his main focus. After eight of the Bulls’ first 11 field goals came in the paint and they shot 56 percent in the first quarter, the Pacers limited them to 31 percent in the second quarter and 41.2 percent for the game.
---Tyrese Haliburton posted his fifth straight double-double. He leads the NBA with assists-points double-doubles. Coby White said following Saturday’s practice that Haliburton deserves to be an All-Star starter, which would resonate well with the hometown since the game is in Indianapolis. Haliburton’s range makes him such a difficult guard. He sank two 3-pointers over 30 feet.
---Haliburton, who was listed as questionable with a sore back before the game, completely took over the game down the stretch. He sank two ridiculous 3-pointers as part of a 12-0 run that pushed the Pacers ahead after the Bulls had rallied from a 25-point deficit. Haliburton finished with 21 points, a career-high 20 assists and 0 turnovers. It marked the first time since John Stockton in 1989 that an opponent posted that many assists without a turnover. And it’s the first 20-assist, 0-turnover game in the NBA since Chris Paul in 2016.
---Patrick Williams played in attack mode. He sank a pullup jumper on the game’s first possession and scored nine first-quarter points on 4-for-5 shooting. He finished with 22 points, his fourth 20-point game of the season. That marks a career-best total.
"I'm just playing basketball," Williams said. "I'm pretty comfortable making the plays I think I can make."
---More and more opposing defenses are crowding Coby White, turning him into a driver. And while White certainly has grown in pick-and-roll decision making and tempo, he has struggled of late. That exacerbates his current 3-point slump, which stretched to 16 straight misses before he finally connected. White shot just 2-for-11 overall in the first half and 5-for-19 overall. He even passed up an open midrange jumper in the third quarter, leading to a three-second violation on Drummond.
---White saved his slump breaker for a significant time. He beat the shot clock with a 32-footer that fully erased the Bulls’ 25-point deficit and pushed them ahead early in the fourth quarter.
---Drummond posted another double-digit rebounding night in his second straight start for the injured Nikola Vucevic. But Drummond also experienced foul trouble in the first half, going to the bench with three fouls.
---The Pacers blew the game open with a 20-6 run to open the second half. The Bulls repeatedly got beat downcourt in transition. The Pacers finished with 31 fast-break points and led by as many as 25 points.
---But a small-ball lineup of DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu, Dalen Terry and Terry Taylor wreaked havoc down the stretch of the third. They ripped off a 12-0 run largely predicated by defensive activity from Caruso and Terry. In fact, Terry finished plus-29 in his 18 minutes, an almost unheard of statistic for a team that lost by 16.
"I'm just trying to make the most of my minutes," said Terry, who finished with six points, three blocks, three rebounds, an assist and steal.
---The game marked the first time Jim Boylen returned to the United Center on an NBA bench since his Bulls’ tenure ended in August 2020. But the Pacers assistant coach has been busy. In fact, Boylen recently earned USA Basketball Coach of the Year honors for his work leading a disparate bunch of players over multiple qualifying windows to a World Cup berth.
“Jim’s a great coach,” Carlisle said. “He coached USA Basketball in six windows that helped them qualify for the World Cup with various free agents, G League castoff players, European guys who were out of work. And he got the team qualified. It was one of the most amazing runs of coaching that was completely under anybody’s radar.
“He lives in Indy. I’ve known him a long time. I have great respect for him as a coach. He has three championship rings, two with Houston and one with San Antonio. And he’s added a lot to our staff.”
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