The Bulls kept the good times rolling with a dominant 118-101 victory over the Indiana Pacers. The Bulls moved to 2-0 and face Brooklyn on the road Monday. The Pacers are 1-2.
The Bulls were led by Doug McDermott with 23 points with five three pointers. Jimmy Butler had 16 and Dwyane Wade 14. Rajon Rondo had 13 assists. The Bulls had a 30-14 edge in fast break points, shot 52.3 percent and outrebounded Indiana 47-33. Chicago had 34 assists on 45 baskets.
It was a brilliant all-round game from the Bulls with slick passing and ball movement, aggressive defence and strong contributions from the bench that saw them run up their largest half-time lead in three years, 21 points, and lead by double digits since early in the second quarter as the starters sat out the fourth quarter.
Chicago led by as much as 29 and Indiana only narrowed that in the last minutes. There were highlights galore with lob dunks, multiple fast breaks and first time appearances from rookies Denzel Valentine and Paul Zipser.
The hosts did a good job in the first quarter in slowing Indiana’s fast break game. They got strong production from Robin Lopez and Taj Gibson inside with six each in the first quarter for a 24-20 lead.
The Bulls held a 15-11 rebounding margin in the quarter with a highlight Rondo lob dunk pass to Butler, Rondo with five first quarter assists. The Bulls second unit, which struggled some in the opener, was brilliant to start the second quarter, igniting a 23-4 run that led to a 62-41 Bulls halftime lead. McDermott finished a pair of fast breaks, running one 94 feet on his own.
Rondo had 11 assists in the first half and the Bulls had 20 assists on 26 baskets in the half. The home team continued to pile on after half-time, first with Wade’s steal giving them a 68-46 lead and then giving way to Robin Lopez beating the young Pacers down court for another 50 foot Rondo pass for a score. The Bulls went into the fourth quarter leading 92-67 with five players in double figure scoring and Rondo with 13 assists. The Bulls were shooting 57.4 percent through three quarters and had made all 17 of their free throws. They were a plus-13 in rebounds through three.
By Sam Smith
First appeared on NBA.com Global
