Pacers let go of rope early against Bulls, live to fight next night against Bucks

The Pacers wrapped up their three-game road trip with an uninspired effort against the Bulls, still struggling to survive without Tyrese Haliburton.

The Pacers lost their third consecutive game, failing to give a consistent 48 minute effort once, again and eventually falling to the Bulls 121-103. Usually, the Pacers recipe for a loss either starts with a poor first quarter start or ends with a fourth quarter fade. In Chicago, they chose the second quarter to turn off the juice.

The Bulls outscored the Pacers 40-21 in the second quarter as the Pacers defense fell apart, allowing 22 points in the paint. On the offensive end, things were just a jumbled mess. Shots were taken, but few were pretty finishes in the flow of a useful offense. Threes that were made by Myles Turner and Aaron Nesmith felt more like found money in a pocket, than the result of a cohesive offense. By the half the losing hole was dug.

With the idea that every game is a tug-o-war until one team lets go of the rope, the Pacers appeared ready to pull their way back in the game to begin the third quarter, trimming the Bulls’ lead to 11 after four minutes, but then they quickly let go of the rope and the lead was back to 20 midway through the quarter after a rather slow transition opportunity by the Bulls resulted in an easy layup. At that point, Rick Carlisle essentially said, leave the rope in the sand as he subbed out the regular rotation players and let the end of the bench finish out the game.

The bench did fine finishing out the final 18 minutes of the game. Rookie Johnny Furphy had 8 rebounds in that time, continuing to show he has no problem working in the muck despite his slight frame. Tony Bradley even played some solid defense in his first extended minutes. But the effort from the regular rotation remains the revolting story of this game. Points in the paint, rebounds disadvantage, 50/50 balls…all just, ugh.

Carlisle was certainly not happy with the effort his squad put forth, but also had to be thinking ahead to the back-to-back against the Bucks on Tuesday night. Tyrese Haliburton was held out while TJ McConnell played a few minutes on Monday. Considering the level of play Haliburton was delivering before sitting out the past three games, it seems reasonable to expect he will return for this big game against the Bucks, a very possible playoff opponent on a TNT game.

Haliburton or not, there has to be a far high level of ‘give a shit’ from the crew that let go of the rope in Chicago. Long season with lots of ups and downs, the Pacers are in at the tail end of the dog days…all of that is true. However, this matchup with the Bucks, a different team than the Pacers took care of last season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo who will never not want to exact his revenge on the Pacers.

So…how will this Pacers team react?

Pacers vs. Bucks

Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

When: Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025, 7:30 p.m. ET

TV: TNT

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Odds: Pacers +2

Projected Starters

Pacers: Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner

Bucks: Damian Lillard, Taurean Prince, Kyle Kuzma, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez

Injuries

Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton (hip) - questionable, Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out

Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf) - probable, Damian Lillard (groin) - probable, Pat Connaughton (calf) - questionable, Pete Nance (ankle) - questionable, Chris Livingston (illness) - out, Bobby Portis (suspension) - out