Potential home court advantage in an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series is within reach for the Indiana Pacers, if only the team could solve its woes on the road.
Indiana enters Monday’s visit to the Chicago Bulls with three losses in five games, falling on the road each time. Separate defeats in Atlanta on Thursday and Saturday came by eight combined points.
Indiana resides in fifth place in the East, one game behind Milwaukee and one ahead of Detroit, which both are in action on Sunday.
“We are where we are now,” the Pacers’ Quenton Jackson said. “It can’t get no worse.”
Perhaps the way Saturday’s game ended influenced Jackson’s assessment. Trailing by three points with 7.1 seconds to go, the Pacers moved the ball up the floor. Pascal Siakam had possession with time ticking down, but instead of attempting a game-tying 3-pointer, he took an open dunk, apparently unaware of the situation.
There wasn’t enough time left for another shot when Atlanta’s Trae Young split a pair of free throws to ice the game with Indiana forced to foul.
“They were grabbing me, and I just went and I didn’t think,” Siakam said.
Indiana welcomed the return of Bennedict Mathurin, who scored 30 points after a four-game absence with a wrist injury. Facilitating the attack has been a concern during the recent slide. Tyrese Haliburton is questionable after missing both Atlanta games with a strained left hip flexor. Reserve point guard T.J. McConnell sprained his right ankle in the first quarter Saturday and didn’t return.
Chicago has won two straight for the first time since Jan. 4-6 as it starts to make strides during clutch situations. The Bulls edged Orlando and Miami on a brief, two-game road trip, as the Bulls pursue both teams for positioning in the East play-in tournament.
The Bulls were four games clear of Philadelphia for the conference’s No. 10 seed entering Sunday.
Chicago trailed Miami by 17 points in the first half and 11 to start the fourth quarter before rallying for a 114-109 win.
Josh Giddey is coming off his third triple-double with the Bulls after contributing 26 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. With Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams, and Lonzo Ball still out with injuries, Chicago also is enthused about the play of various fill-in starters. Tre Jones scored 13 of his 15 points in the final quarter.
“We’re trying to compete for that play-in spot right now, trying to climb those standings in the East,” Jones said. “There’s still room for movement on our part, so we are trying to continue to chip away at this every single day. We got two big wins on the road and hope to keep this thing rolling.”
The Pacers are seeking a four-game sweep of the season series with the Central Division rival Bulls. After winning by nine points in Chicago on Dec. 6, the Pacers earned home victories by 16 and 15 points on Jan. 8 and March 2, respectively.
Indiana is 6-4 in its past 10 games versus Chicago.
Siakam is averaging 22.3 points and 6.3 rebounds against the Bulls this season.
