Pacers 104, Bulls 92
INDIANAPOLIS -- Forward Paul George scored 33 points, guard C.J. Miles had 16 first-half points and the Indiana Pacers grabbed control early on their way to a 104-92 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Indiana (10-5) won its fourth in a row and is 10-2 after losing the first three games of the season.
Chicago (9-5) led 7-2 in the opening three minutes before the Pacers countered with a 17-2 run that included seven from Miles. Indiana was up 19-9 with 6:12 remaining in the first quarter and never trailed again.
Center Ian Mahinmi had 15 points and nine rebounds for Indiana, guard Monta Ellis scored 14 points and Lavoy Allen had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Indiana made 37 of 87 shots from the field (42.5 percent) and Chicago hit just 32 of 92 (34.8 percent).
Forward Nikola Mirotic led Chicago with 25 points, guard Jimmy Butler added 16, guard Kirk Hinrich scored 11 and guard Derrick Rose finished with 10.
George, who scored 24 second-half points, and guard Rodney Stuckey began the fourth quarter with consecutive field goals to push Indiana's lead to 76-63, prompting a timeout from the Bulls with 11:05 remaining.
A George 3-pointer with 5:15 to play gave the Pacers a comfortable 92-78 advantage.
Rose and Butler made consecutive 3-pointers to trim the Chicago deficit to 96-86 with 2:35 remaining.
A Mirotic layup with 7:17 left in the third quarter sliced the Pacers' lead to 61-53. Indiana got baskets from Ellis and George during the final 58 seconds, establishing a 72-63 lead through 36 minutes. After three quarters, Chicago was shooting 31.3 percent from the field (21 of 67) and had 13 turnovers.
The Pacers enjoyed a 51-42 halftime lead, limiting the Bulls to 36.4 percent shooting from the floor (16 of 44), including 1 of 7 from Rose. Indiana made 22 of 51 (43.1 percent) during the first 24 minutes.
The Pacers outrebounded the Bulls 26-25 and forced nine turnovers in the first half.
Mirotic led the Bulls with 12 first-half points. George added nine for Indiana in support of Miles, who made 6 of 10 shots from the field in the opening half.
NOTES: The Bulls played without G Aaron Brooks (left hamstring) and F Mike Dunleavy (back). ... The Pacers were without F/C Myles Turner (left thumb). ... After averaging 92.7 points during an 0-3 start, Indiana averaged 103.6 in winning 9 of 11 entering Friday's game. ... The Pacers lead the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage (41.6) and rank second in steals per game (10.1) and opponents' turnovers per game (18.2) ... The Bulls are third in rebounds per game (46.9). ... The teams split last season's series 2-2, each winning once on the other's court ... Pacers G/F Paul George ranks fourth in NBA scoring at 25.9 points and Chicago G Jimmy Butler ranks 15th at 21.1. ... Bulls C Pau Gasol is eighth in rebounding at 10.0 and Chicago G Doug McDermott is second in 3-point field goal percentage at 48.9. ... The Pacers' next four games are on the road before returning home to play Golden State on Dec. 8.