The Chicago Bulls will play the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis on a Wednesday night, keeping them in the Midwest.
The Bulls have dropped as far as 11th in the Eastern Conference on their current losing streak of four games.
The Pacers, meantime, have dropped five in a row and are in last place in the Eastern Conference, four games behind the Chicago Bulls in the loss column. This Eastern Conference showdown will get going at 7:00 PM EDT.
The latest Injury Report for Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls Match
With 35 minutes left in Monday’s 123-117 loss to the Jazz, Haliburton (thigh) finished with 30 points, 12 assists, three steals, one rebound, and one block.
Even though Haliburton was listed as questionable to participate on Monday because of a bruised thigh, he still managed to play through the injury and produce one of his best stat lines in fantasy leagues.
It’s possible that Haliburton’s use increased slightly with Myles Turner’s (back) absence, since his 24 field goal attempts were tied for the most he’s attempted all season.
With the exception of some unexpectedly bad free throw shooting, Haliburton has returned to pre-injury levels of production in the seven games he’s played after returning from a three-week absence due to elbow and ankle ailments.
So far in the month of February, he is averaging 18.7 points, 9.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 2.7 three-pointers, and 2.0 steals on 48.5 percent shooting from the field.
“It’s trying to find that balance between being aggressive, getting guys involved and what’s best for the team at that point in time. … When I have it going, I gotta find ways to get myself shots,” Haliburton said. “Coach lets me dictate a lot of the sets that we run. So trying to think of it that way.”
Bennedict Mathurin then came off the bench to score 21 points in 32 minutes. There were five players who scored in double figures for the Pacers, but they still lost the rebounding battle (46-32). Myles Turner, a big man, didn’t play because he was nursing an injured back.
Even though Buddy Hield shot just 2-for-11 from 3-point range, he still has the most 3-pointers made in the NBA at 224.
With their season series knotted at 1 game apiece, the Pacers and Bulls will play again on March 5 in Chicago. In four of the last five matchups, the Bulls have come out on top.
Following their most recent loss, the Chicago Bulls no longer have a playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
Despite their own extended skid, the Indiana Pacers are only two games back from their rivals.
When Indiana hosts Chicago on Wednesday, one side will get a much-needed win while the other will have to go back to the drawing board.
DeMar DeRozan, Chicago’s top scorer, could be joining them. He left Monday’s 100-91 home defeat to Orlando in the fourth quarter with a right hip issue he says has been troubling him for more than a month.
K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago quotes Bulls head coach Billy Donovan as saying that DeRozan (thigh) would not play Wednesday at Indiana, but that he is expected to play Thursday against the Bucks.
Coach Donovan ruled out DeRozan for the first game of the back-to-back series after the forward had an MRI on his thigh following Monday’s loss to the Magic and the results showed a Grade 1 thigh strain.
However, the Bulls aren’t quite ready to shut down the 33-year-old DeRozan until after Thursday’s game because they want to see how he responds to two days of rest.
It’s possible that the Bulls may start Zach LaVine at small forward against the Pacers on Wednesday with DeRozan sidelined for at least one game and Derrick Jones (adductor) questionable.
DeRozan is averaging 25.4 points per game but has failed to score 20 or more points in four consecutive games, all losses to the Bulls. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 1.5 points per game more than Chicago’s Zach LaVine averages (he scored 26 points Monday to lead the team).
Nikola Vucevic of the Chicago Bulls owns the NBA’s longest active double-double run at nine games.
Even yet, the Bulls have struggled offensively throughout this losing streak, scoring 91 points or less on three separate occasions. After shooting just 3-for-21 from deep against Orlando, the Bulls now have a 20.8 percent 3-point clip over their last five games.
The Hoosiers have dropped five straight and 16 of their last 18. On January 24th, they beat the Bulls 116-110, which was one of their victories during that stretch.
On Monday night, the Pacers trailed visiting Utah by 12 points in the fourth quarter. They clawed their way back to within two points with 3:06 remaining, but ultimately fell short.
NBA Regular Season Schedule
| Wednesday, February 15, 2023 | ||
| AWAY | HOME | TIME / TV |
| Chicago | Indiana | 7:00 PM |
| San Antonio | Charlotte | 7:00 PM |
| Cleveland | Philadelphia | 7:30 pm ESPN |
| New York | Atlanta | 7:30 PM |
| Detroit | Boston | 7:30 PM |
| Miami | Brooklyn | 7:30 PM |
| Houston | Oklahoma City | 8:00 PM |
| Utah | Memphis | 8:00 PM |
| Dallas | Denver | 9:00 PM |
| New Orleans | L.A. Lakers | 10:00 pm ESPN |
