The Indiana Pacers won their game against the Chicago Bulls 129-113 on January 8, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. However, the game also highlights the vulnerabilities of the Bulls that need to work on, to deliver more match winning performance and improve teamwork and defense in future games.
Chicago Bulls vs Indiana Match Summary
1. First Quarter
The Indiana Pacers played without Myles Turner for the third time this season, with Thomas Bryant starting in his place. Chicago briefly led 4-2 after a layup by Josh Giddey. Still, Indiana quickly surged ahead, scoring eleven of the next twelve points and building an eight-point lead thanks to Pascal Siakam’s putback after a missed shot by Benedict Mathurin.
Chicago narrowed the deficit to three points near the end of the first quarter. Still, Indiana finished strong and ended the quarter leading 29-18 thanks to Ben Sheppard, Jarace Walker, T.J. McConnell, and Enrique Freeman. Siakam was the game’s top scorer with 7; Giddey had the most for Chicago with 5. The Bulls struggled to maintain possession of the ball, committing seven turnovers in the quarter and shooting poorly—1 of 8 (12.5%) from three-point range.
2. Second Quarter
After closing the first quarter with 8-0 run the Pacers continued momentum into the second quarter. Jarace Walker sank a three-pointer, Obi Toppin dunked, and Pascal Siakam scored with a layup, giving the Pacers an 18-point lead with 10:23 left in the second quarter. Chicago could not catch up during this time. Siakam sank his second three-pointer with 6:05 minutes left in the half, pushing Indiana’s deficit to twenty. The Pacers had a 23-point lead in the first half. Thomas Bryant took the dunk for Indiana and pushed its lead to 60-37 with 2:37 minutes remaining in the half. Chicago then outscored Indiana by four more points from there, leaving at halftime at 64-44. Siakam became the top scorer in the quarter with nine points while closing the half with 16. Bryant contributed an additional 7 points and three rebounds during the second quarter. In that quarter, Chicago’s Vucevic top-scored 6 points. Indiana forced the host to incur 14 turnovers during the first half.
3. Third Quarter
The Chicago Bulls had a back-to-back game for the second night in a row, so it is expected that the match is not going to be easy for them. Indiana started the third quarter well, scoring 18 points, while Chicago could only score 6, giving them a 31-point lead with 6:27 remaining in the quarter. Siakam added to the lead by converting a floater, making the score 81-50. T.J. McConnell caught a pass from Vucevic and scored, further widening the Pacers’ lead to 34 points.
Even though they were losing, Chicago kept trying hard at the end of the game and slowly closed the gap in Indiana’s big lead. Indiana was ahead 100-76 after three quarters. Zach LaVine was the best scorer for Chicago in the third quarter, scoring 13 points. Tyrese Haliburton was the top scorer for Indiana with 11 points. LaVine was the game’s top scorer at the end of the third quarter with 22. Siakam scored 21 points for Indiana. A double-double also came for Haliburton with 16 points and 11 assists.
4. Fourth Quarter
After a strong third-quarter performance, the Chicago Bulls kept their energy flowing into the final quarter of the game. They cut the lead to twenty points with 11:03 minutes still to play, through a step-back jumper from Zach LaVine. The excitement increased even more when Coby White made a deep three-pointer with 8:07 left. Indiana’s coach Rick Carlisle put Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, and Thomas Bryant back in the game to take charge again. After the break, Nembhard scored two free throws and then made a fadeaway jumper from the baseline, stopping the Bulls’ scoring streak. With 6:21 minutes left, Indiana increased their lead back to 21 points after Nembhard made a layup. This put Chicago in a timeout but did not alter the outcome of the game. Indiana maintained a lead of fourteen to seventeen points for the remainder of the game and finally took the win with 129-113 and maintained their winning streak against the Chicago Bulls.
Chicago Bulls vs Indiana Pacers Box Score Jan 8th, 2025
Chicago Bulls Box Score Jan 8th, 2025
| Chicago Bulls | ||||||||||||
| PLAYER | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | +/- |
| Zach LaVine F | 34:55 | 60 | 33.3 | 83.3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 31 | -20 |
| Patrick Williams F | 21:23 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -21 |
| Nikola Vučević C | 26:56 | 55.6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | -22 |
| Coby White G | 31:03 | 47.1 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 19 | -13 |
| Josh Giddey G | 21:47 | 57.1 | 50 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 9 | -8 |
| Lonzo Ball | 19:15 | 33.3 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -7 |
| Julian Phillips | 14:53 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Jalen Smith | 16:51 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 3 |
| Dalen Terry | 8:22 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -8 |
| Matas Buzelis | 13:03 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Chris Duarte | 14:26 | 40 | 50 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | -8 |
| Talen Horton-Tucker | 10:10 | 75 | 100 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 11 |
| Jevon Carter | 6:56 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| TOTALS | 51.2 | 34.3 | 68.4 | 39 | 23 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 113 | -16 | |
Indiana Pacers Box Score Jan 8th 2025
| PLAYER | MIN | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | +/- |
| Bennedict Mathurin F | 0:50 | 25 | 0 | 100 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 23 |
| Pascal Siakam F | 28:38 | 64.7 | 42.9 | 33.3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 10 |
| Thomas Bryant C | 3:49 | 56.3 | 50 | 100 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 21 |
| Andrew Nembhard G | 31:05 | 45.5 | 0 | 80 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 20 |
| Tyrese Haliburton G | 30:1 | 53.8 | 66.7 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 25 |
| Obi Toppin | 23:04 | 55.6 | 25 | 50 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 11 |
| Enrique Freeman | 16:00 | 66.7 | 0 | 50 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -9 |
| T.J. McConnell | 16:22 | 28.6 | 0 | 66.7 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | -2 |
| Ben Sheppard | 20:51 | 60 | 50 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | -7 |
| Jarace Walker | 19:14 | 71.4 | 50 | 33.3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | -11 |
| Quenton Jackson | 1:26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Furphy | 0:29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| James Johnson | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||
| Myles Turner | DND – Injury/Illness | |||||||||||
| TOTALS | 52 | 34.5 | 62.5 | 46 | 37 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 129 | 16 | |
