T.J. McConnell had 20 points (14 in the paint) and 10 assists, and the Indiana Pacers rallied from 21 points down in the second quarter to beat the Chicago Bulls 116-110 to end a 7-game losing streak.
The Pacers trailed 62-41 with 1:40 left in the second quarter and 62-46 at halftime. They outscored the Bulls 75-48 the rest of the way.
The Bulls had the ball down 2 with 29 seconds left, but Buddy Hield stole the ball from Alex Caruso, lifting the Pacers’ chance to win from 77% to 82%. A basket would have tied the game.
During clutch time, the Pacers outscored the Bulls 18-10. Bennedict Mathurin scored 6 of the Pacers’ 18 on 2 for 3 shooting and 1 for 2 at the line. Late in the fourth quarter, Hield had 3 of his 4 steals, one of them leading to his pull-up 3-pointer that put the Pacers ahead 105-102, and the Pacers scored 6 points off them.
Mathurin scored 26 points off the bench, and Myles Turner added 26 points (16 in the third quarter). Mathurin scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter. The Pacers had 3 20-point scorers.
For the Bulls, DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points on 14 for 21 shooting, and Zach LaVine went 0 for 7 from 3. Nikola Vučević had 20 points and 8 rebounds.
The Bulls forced 8 turnovers, about 7 fewer than usual for this many possessions.