Tyrese Haliburton carves up Bulls in Pacers win |
CHICAGO - Every now and then, you witness a player put on an incredible display that leaves you thinking they should be in the MVP Conversation. For the Chicago Bulls (14-19) and their fans, they witnessed that at the United Center on Thursday night as a rare yet incredible feat happened.
Facing off against a reeling Indiana Pacers (16-14) who finished second during the in-season tournament, Tyrese Haliburton put on such a display that it makes you envious your team doesn't have a player like him. Since Haliburton was traded to the Pacers from the Sacramento Kings, the Pacers offense has been at a different level. Haliburton has played like a perennial All-Star and sometimes looked like an MVP. That was the case during the Pacers 112-104 win on Thursday as Haliburton not only dropped 21 points, but dished out an incredible 20 assists, nearly as many assists as the Bulls' entire team. To go further, Haliburton also went the entire game without turning the ball over, which is almost impossible to do in today's NBA. He has played like an MVP for a large chunk of the season, and Thursday was one of those games where he should have found his name in the MVP conversation most of the season. The final score indicates a blowout, but it wasn't as one-sided of a game as you think, especially early on. Patrick Williams and his team-high 22 points came out on fire in the first quarter. Williams has always had the potential to be one of this team's better players but has sometimes played with a passive mindset. Since Zach Lavine has gone down, Williams has gotten away from that passive mindset and has started to look like the aggressive player Chicago was hoping he could become as he helped the Bulls race out to an early lead only to see them trailing by six after one quarter of play. Things only got worse from there as Haliburton and the Pacers offense continued to expose the Bulls defense as they opened up a double-digit lead at the half before pushing that advantage to more than 20 points in the second half. That was when the Bulls started to settle in offensively and went on an incredible run of their own. Sparked by Demar DeRozan (21 points) and Ayo Dosunmu (15 points), the Bulls not only outscored the Pacers in the third quarter but continued their recent onslaught into the fourth quarter that saw them eventually grab the lead on a long Coby White triple. Despite his overall struggles from the field most of the night, White continued to find ways to score the basketball as he added 16 points, with a large chunk of them coming in the second half. Holding the 93-90 lead, the Bulls quickly saw their night come to an end as it was all Haliburton from that point forward as his ability to connect for tough shots and free his teammates open for easy looks led to the Pacers pulling away down the stretch for the 16-point win. Another player who had an excellent night for the Bulls but hasn't been talked about as much lately is Alex Caruso, who had 15 points. Caruso has been the heartbeat of the Bulls this season, and you could make the case that he is in the best stretch of basketball in his entire career. There is a reason so many teams have trade interest in him, and it will be interesting to see if the Bulls hang onto him. While most of the attention went to Haliburton for the game he had, and rightfully so, it was Myles Turner who was the team's leading scorer, dropping a game-high 24 points. Turner has long been regarded as one of the more underrated centers in the league, but this season, he started to show the type of player he can be and has played at an all-star level. Those two were the main threats for the Pacers offensively, but the Pacers had far more offensive threats than them, and they all showed up in a big way. Jalen Smith and Aaron Nesmith gave the Pacers four double-digit scorers by adding 15 and 12 points, respectively, but it was the Indiana bench that gave the Pacers the ultimate offensive lift, which was one of the biggest reasons why Chicago lost. Buddy Hield remains one of the best scoring threats off the bench in the NBA, as he finished with 19 points. Considering the Bulls bench had only 23 points as a team, having one player nearly outscore your entire bench isn't a good thing, as you tend to lose many games that way. Ben Mathurin also added 15 points off the bench as he continues to build on his incredible rookie season from a year ago to establish himself as a valuable asset to this team. The Bulls will close out the 2023 year with one more home game as they welcome the Philadelphia Sixers to town on Saturday.
Simpson Sinks Windy City at the Buzzer
For the most part, the Windy City Bulls (0-2) have played very well this season, but one team has had their number. That team is the Motor City Cruise (2-0), who not only have started the second half of their season with back-to-back wins against the Bulls but have improved to 4-0 against Windy City this season.
Thursday was an especially painful loss for Windy City as the Bulls came out on fire to build a nearly 20-point first-half lead and held a double-digit advantage throughout the third quarter. That was until the Cruise started to go on a big run as they erased that massive deficit to take the lead, only to have Zavier Simpson sink the Bulls at the Buzzer to give the Cruise a 114-112 win.
This is a much different-looking Windy City team, as several of their big players are on the NBA roster for potential scoring help. However, guys like Quinten Jackson (19 points), Kiefer Sykes (14 points), and Chris Clemons (13 points) continue to produce, but it was Jalen Harris who put together one of his best games as a pro.
The former Nevada Wolfpack entered the game averaging a shade over 7 PPG but had the hot hand with a career-high 36 points and eight rebounds while playing nearly 33 minutes. Windy City will need more performances like this from other players if they want to return to winning games.
Even with Simpson playing the hero, especially during the second half, Jared Rhoden led the way as he paced the Cruise with 20 points. Stanley Umude added 18 points with Tosan Evbuomwan (17 Points) and David Nwaba (15 points), giving Motor City plenty of scoring threats throughout the game. Windy City returns to the court on Saturday, heading to North Carolina to take on the Greensboro Swarm.
