Pacers at Bulls
The Indiana Pacers emphatically announced their intention to control the Central Division with a convincing win over the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 6. Still without a loss on the season, the Pacers will attempt to stamp the Bulls down again when they visit Chicago on Saturday. The Bulls have not lost since that 97-80 setback at Indiana, taking three straight by an average of 18.3 points to pull above .500.
The Pacers seem to be getting better with each game and posted their largest margin of victory with a 104-77 triumph over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, which gave them victories over all four Central Division rivals. Indiana is leading the league in scoring defense but Chicago is figuring things out on that end as well and held its last three opponents to an average of 78 points. Bulls star Derrick Rose (hamstring) sat out Friday’s win over Toronto, and he is questionable to return on Saturday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, WGN (Chicago)
ABOUT THE PACERS (9-0): Indiana C Roy Hibbert is a big part of that defense and nearly pulled off a triple-double Friday with 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots against the Bucks. “Our probability of winning a game should be 100 percent when Roy is playing at that level,” Paul George said after the game. Hibbert swatted away at least five shots in six of the nine games and is averaging a league-leading 4.8. He had five in the win over Chicago on Nov. 6.
ABOUT THE BULLS (4-3): Chicago had all five of its starters go for at least 12 points without Rose in the lineup on Friday and got used to playing without its star last season. “It’s different with (Rose) out there,” forward Carlos Boozer said. “But we use each other. We cut, we pass the ball, we move around, we do a couple things differently.” Despite the upcoming back-to-back, the Bulls leaned heavily on their starters with all but Boozer logging at least 33 minutes in the 96-80 victory over Toronto.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Pacers are the first team to start 9-0 since the 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks.
2. Chicago shot just 35.6 percent and committed 19 turnovers in the first meeting.
3. George has scored at least 21 points in each of Indiana’s nine games.