Pacers at Bulls
The Indiana Pacers are moving up the standings by taking advantage of a weaker stretch in the schedule and are hoping to extend the winning streak to six straight when they visit the rebuilding Chicago Bulls on Friday. Each of the Pacers' last five wins have come against sub-.500 opponents, and the Bulls fit that bill as well.
Indiana, which is opening a five-game road trip at Chicago and will see the schedule tighten up a bit with visits to Toronto and Boston during the trip, finished off a two-game homestand and ended 2018 by knocking off the Atlanta Hawks 116-108 on Monday. "We're just continuing to learn each other and continuing to grow," guard Victor Oladipo told reporters. "Everybody's getting better and the great part is we can improve. We can still get better." Chicago seemed to be turning the corner from bottom-dwellers to competitors with wins in three of five but took a step back with Wednesday's 112-84 home loss to the Orlando Magic. "Effort too," Bulls guard Zach LaVine told reporters in reference to the team's issues. "I think we lacked all of it. It was an overall terrible game. I can't imagine what it looked like on TV. It felt even worse in the game."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Indiana, WGN (Chicago)
ABOUT THE PACERS (25-12): Indiana averaged 32.3 assists over its last three games and credits sharing the ball for finding the win column. "With ball movement, it's a simple game," Pacers coach Nate McMillan told reporters. "When guys are open, you get them the ball and you don't care about who shoots or who scores. You just play the game together and if you play the game that way and do a good job of taking care of the ball, guys are going to get opportunities and you are going to be able to score points." Six players scored in double figures and three (Oladipo, center Myles Turner and reserve power forward Domantas Sabonis) scored at least 20 points in Monday's triumph.
ABOUT THE BULLS (10-28): Chicago allowed the Magic to shoot 57.9 percent from the floor and was never in the game after getting outscored 32-16 in the first quarter. "We're not doing our jobs," LaVine told reporters. "We're top of the line professional athletes. That's what we get paid to do. We were giving them easy looks, we weren't physical enough, they dictated the game and we fell back. We have to do a lot of things better. We are not making passes to the open man, not hustling, not helping each other on defense. So, that's a problem." LaVine, who averages a team-high 23.3 points, was held to an average of 14.5 in the last two games - both losses.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Bulls traded SF Justin Holiday to Memphis on Thursday for G Marshon Brooks, G Wayne Selden and two draft picks, according to ESPN.
2. Turner suffered a broken nose in Monday's win but is being fitted for a mask and could play Friday.
3. Indiana took the first two meetings by a total of eight points, including a 107-105 victory at Chicago on Nov. 2.