The Chicago Bulls were dominant in a 124-109 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday at the United Center, improving to 3-2 on the season.
The Bulls now own a two-game winning streak — their first of the season — as they prepare for back-to-back games against the San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers this weekend.
Advertisement
Here are five takeaways from the win.
DeMar DeRozan came just shy of the latest milestone in his career — becoming the 50th player in NBA history to score 20,000 points. When DeRozan crosses this threshold, he will join the likes of Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain.
Advertisement
DeRozan needed 24 points to reach the milestone at home, but finished with 17 points after going 6-for-14 from the field. With only seven points remaining, DeRozan will likely reach the mark in a familiar place — Friday’s game in San Antonio, where DeRozan played for three seasons under coach Gregg Popovich.
In his third game following two absences due to injury management, Zach LaVine recorded his best night of shooting of the season. LaVine went 6-for-8 from behind the 3-point line, scoring 28 points to lead the Bulls in scoring and offset a slightly off night from DeRozan.
LaVine is still missing aspects of his game due to lingering effects from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee — particularly his high-flying dunks, which LaVine joked after the game wouldn’t be attempted for several more weeks until he feels totally confident in his body. But the return to a higher shooting clip is a promising sign for a Bulls team that is currently second-lowest in the league in 3-point attempts.
“We don’t have the most high volume 3-point shooting,” LaVine said. “I’m going to try to jump start that.”
The Bulls recorded their strongest start so far, scoring a season-high 38 points in the first quarter against the Pacers and a season-high 76 points in the first half.
The team opened the game on a 4-for-4 shooting streak from 3-point range and shot 59.1% from the field. The Bulls finished 16-for-30 (53.3%) from 3-point range.
The opening was a marked improvement for the Bulls, who fell behind by 19 points in Monday’s win over the Boston Celtics and had a 17-point deficit in last Friday’s loss to the Washington Wizards.
Chicago Tribune Sports
Weekdays
A daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.
The Pacers nearly pulled off a comeback in the third quarter, cutting the lead down to 95-91, but a bench unit led by LaVine held off the resurgence. After LaVine checked in, the primary bench group of Alex Caruso, Andre Drummond, Goran Dragic and Javonte Green went on a 17-4 run to force the Pacers back on their heels.
Advertisement
The Bulls finished with 43 bench points, nearly double their average from last season (26.7), which was second-lowest in the league.
The bench unit was also fueled by the growing chemistry between Dragic and Drummond, who connected for three lob dunks in the first half alone. Dragic scored 13 points on 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range while adding five assists, while Drummond led the team with 13 rebounds off the bench.
Besides holding off the comeback, the Bulls bench also delivered a highlight play when Caruso smacked the ball out of Myles Turner’s hands, then casually punched a pass up to LaVine to feed Dragic in transition.
Patrick Williams started against the Pacers on a stronger note — sinking a 3-pointer for the opening score, stealing the ball and driving for a layup through traffic in transition and drawing a charge in the first quarter. He earned minutes in both the first and second quarter for the first time in two games and scored seven points in the first half.
“I thought Patrick in his first stint played really, really well and I just wanted to get him back out there,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I think in that second stint of the half, he was pretty good too. I thought he played a good game tonight.”
Despite that improved first-half performance, Williams played only six minutes in the third quarter and sat for the entirety of the fourth quarter.
