NBA: Pacers rally in fourth quarter to beat Bulls, end losing streak
FILE–Bennedict Mathurin #00 of the Indiana Pacers. Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP
Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner both scored 26 points, T.J. McConnell went for 20 points and 10 assists and the Indiana Pacers rallied past the Chicago Bulls in the fourth quarter to snap a seven-game losing streak with a 116-110 victory on Tuesday in Indianapolis.
The Pacers came into Tuesday’s tilt having last won on Jan. 8, with six of their seven straight losses coming with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined by injury. Chicago appeared poised to send Indiana to its eighth consecutive defeat, never trailing for the first three-plus quarters and building an advantage of as many as 21 points.
Article continues after this advertisementDeMar DeRozan paced the Bulls with a game-high 33 points. But after leading most of the way, Chicago saw its advantage slip away during a 36-23 fourth quarter.
Indiana held the Bulls to 10-of-21 shooting from the floor in the final period, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range. The goose egg in the final 12 minutes concluded a poor night overall from outside (5-for-24) for Chicago.
Bennedict Mathurin is CLUTCH 🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/LuQqNeWdvk
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 25, 2023
The Pacers’ 3-point shooting percentage was not markedly better — 27 to the Bulls’ 20.8 — but Indiana made twice as many at 10-for-37. Buddy Hield was responsible for four of the makes on his 11 attempts en route to 19 points.
Mathurin missed his first four 3-point attempts and finished 1 of 5, but his only make was part of a huge fourth quarter. He shot 6 of 7 from the floor for 15 points in the period, including five over the final 1:01 that gave Indiana the lead for good.
Mathurin also scored five straight points as part of an 8-2 burst midway through the stanza.
McConnell, who one game prior moved into the starting point guard role Haliburton vacated with his injury, finished with a double-digit number of assists for the second game in a row. He recorded a triple-double in Indiana’s loss at Phoenix on Saturday.
Nikola Vucevic recorded 20 points and eight rebounds for Chicago. Zach LaVine was held to just 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the floor in the loss.
