The Indiana Pacers suffered their first loss of the season against the Chicago Bulls by a final score of 112-105 after making only 12 of 46 three-point attempts (26%) and committing 17 turnovers.
The Bulls cooled off the Pacers offense by slowing the game down from Indiana’s usual fast pace and keeping them out of any consistent rhythm throughout the game by continuing their strength on defense of forcing turnovers. When the Pacers were able to get out and run, they had way more turnovers in transition than they typically do from multiple players.
Rick Carlisle said that he thinks that the majority of the 3-point shots were good attempts but that once he watches the film he expects to see that they didn’t get deep enough in the paint to force help and get better looks at times.
Outside of Bruce Brown (3 of 6), Myles Turner (3 of 8), Buddy Hield (3 of 8), the rest of the Pacers 9-man rotation in this game was just 3 for 24 (12.5%).
Many local Pacers fans were unable to watch this game as Bally Sports had a major outage that wouldn’t allow anyone to login to their app or website. Another blunder for the bankrupt company in charge of the Pacers local broadcasts.
Let’s get into the grades:
Tyrese Haliburton: C
Haliburton had 19 points and 13 assists for the Pacers so giving him a C may feel ridiculous from a counting-stats perspective but he was just 1 for 8 from deep, had a higher than normal turnover count (4), and got picked on defensively down the stretch as the Bulls ran the same play to get him switched onto DeMar DeRozan.
Caruso gave him some problems on the offensive end by harassing him full court and kept him from being his typical efficient self. He was able to get to the foul line for seven attempts to help offset some of that.
He had his usual fantastic set of assists including a lob to Jalen Smith and a no-look dime in transition to Smith as well. His 13 assists probably could have been much higher without such a poor shooting evening from deep.
Myles Turner: B
Turner had his second straight 20/10 game with 20 points (6 for 14) and 11 rebounds in this one. His second quarter was his best one where he had a chasedown block on Zach LaVine where he followed just behind him from beyond half-court until he attempted a layup and got another on a DeMar DeRozan drive while also adding 10 points for the Pacers offense.
After the chasedown block, he ended up with DeRozan on him in the post. The Pacers missed an opportunity to throw it into him but instead of showing frustration at not getting the ball, Turner got into position for an offensive rebound and drew a shooting foul.
While he was one of few Pacers able to make any triples, he also oddly hesitated on a few. One late in the fourth was particularly odd with Bulls daring him to shoot and the Pacers needing a 3 and another where he took a rhythm dribble only to badly airball it wide. He did a nice job getting to the foul line but only made 5 of 8.
LaVine, who has been blocked 14 times by Turner now in his career, seemed to finally make some adjustments with how he was attacking him at the rim late in this game as he pump-faked early on one attempt to get through him and faded away inside on another. The Bulls are full of frequent flyers of the Myles High Club as they have the first (Andre Drummond – 22 times), second (DeRozan – 20 times), and fourth (LaVine – 14 times) most often blocked during Turner’s career. He’s got enough blocks against this Bulls roster to build one of his intricate Lego sets.
Overall it was a good game from Turner but he left a lot of plays on the floor that could have made it a great one. Something he can’t do if he wants to reach his goal of being an All-Star this season. For example, a critical play in the fourth quarter where it looked like he had a look at an easy bucket inside with two Bulls guards their only defense and he got his first attempt blocked from behind on a nice play from Ayo Dosunmu and a second stripped away by Jevon Carter after he brought the ball down too low.
Bruce Brown: B
Back at Gainbridge, back to the cowboy hat (this time not naked under the overalls), Bruce Brown was also back to taking and making 3-pointers (3 of 6). He finished with 15 points and was one of only two Pacers to have a shooting percentage of 50% or better.
He played fantastic defense and probably deserves the most credit out of a bunch of guys that defended Zach LaVine (6 for 17) and DeMar DeRozan (6 for 19) very well for the majority of the game. The problem for the Pacers as has often been the case through preseason and the first two games: fouls. The two Bulls stars shot a combined to attempt 19 free throws. Brown only committed two but Nesmith fouled out, Mathurin had 5, and Nembhard 4.
Brown’s versatility on defense continues to shine. One play in particular where he got switched onto Vucevic and forced a pass when he got the ball the first time and then stole the second post entry really stood out.
Brown did have two turnovers early that kind of set the tone for how the game was going to go. The first was on a designed lob play for Mathurin on the first possession of the game where the ball seemed to slip out of his hands.
Bennedict Mathurin: C+
Mathurin was much better defensively in this game compared to the game against the Cavaliers and was one of many players that guarded both LaVine and DeRozan. He does still continue to get hung up on screens which is part of why the Bulls were able to get the switches onto Haliburton when they wanted them but he has done a much better job of finding the roller when this happens on the pick and roll.
In the preseason when he would get hung up on the screen, he would continue to chase the ball handler as he drove that was already being covered now by the big defender. This would leave the rolling big man wide open as two defenders were going to the ball. In this game, he cut off the passing angle to the roller and switched onto him. He even forced a miss or two while being stuck on Vucevic in the post.
Offensively, he was just 4 for 11 but made some good plays. A standout being a quick attack off the catch that caught Patrick Williams off guard as he fell to the floor while Mathurin dunked along the baseline. He also continues to do a great job of earning trips to the foul line and avoided a scary injury when he hit his head on the stanchion after he began to lose his balance after drawing one foul. This was the first game of the season where he had no assists but it still felt like he was actively moving the ball and finding his shots within the flow of the offense.
Andrew Nembhard: D+
Nembhard had some great moments in this game including a powerful drive through the body of Caruso, a left-handed off-balance assist from the top of the key to Jalen Smith at the rim that was fantastic, and was a part of the good defensive effort put up against LaVine and DeRozan. But after that assist late in the third quarter to Stix, he really struggled and had some uncharacteristic mistakes.
On a transition opportunity just moments after the great pass to Smith, the ball seemed to slip out of his hands as he was attempting a pass to the wing as it flew out of bounds about 15 rows deep.
To start the fourth quarter, he turned it over again on a pass into traffic, missed two 3-pointers, and had two more live/ball turnovers in a span of 13 seconds as the Pacers went from up 5 to tied in the first three minutes of the quarter.
He looked more like a second-year player in this game than he typically does. He finished with 6 points while missing all four of his 3-point attempts with just two assists to those four turnovers and two steals.
With the Pacers going to a 9-man rotation and not playing TJ McConnell, they may have some growing pains like this at times for Nembhard but in the long run these are necessary reps for his development. If he continues to play like that, it won’t be long until the never-ending motor of McConnell is back running the second unit.
Buddy Hield – C – Buddy continues to show his passing chops with another four assists. He’s struggled with his efficiency to start the season as he scored 11 points on 12 shots.
Obi Toppin – C – Toppin was invisible most of the night besides this fantastic reverse tip dunk and a reverse layup that got the Pacers scoring started. The Pacers were +9 in his 24 minutes and he added 6 points and 8 rebounds. He was taken out of the game for the closing stretch as the Bulls went small with White, Caruso, DeRozan, and LaVine. The slower pace of this game was not in his favor.
Jalen Smith – B – Stix continues to look really good to start the season and be a great backup center. He finished with 8 points (4 of 7), 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and this block that set up another highlight of the night.
Aaron Nesmith – C+ – Very quiet night for Nesmith following his career high against Cleveland. He added statistics all over with 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a pair of blocks. He did a good job on DeRozan at times but the six fouls hurt.
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