Game Rewind: Pacers 116, Bulls 110

Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 7:00 PM ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Things didn't look good for the Pacers in the first half on Tuesday night against Chicago, as the Blue & Gold seemed on their way to an eighth straight loss.

But Indiana mounted a furious rally in the second half. Myles Turner scored 16 points in the third quarter and rookie guard Bennedict Mathurin tallied 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the fourth to lead the Pacers (24-25) to a 116-110 comeback win over their Central Division rivals.

Turner and Mathurin shared high-scoring honors for Indiana with 26 points apiece and T.J. McConnell added 20 points and 10 assists in a much-needed victory over Chicago (22-25).

"We had a positive halftime," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "We talked about the fact that we were very much still in the game, that they played last night, and we were starting to do some things that were causing them some problems -- just to hang in and stay together.

"That's exactly what happened. Guys fought their butts off...Down the stretch, it was just guts all the way."

The Pacers trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half and by 16 at halftime, but had pulled within three at 94-91 with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

DeMar DeRozan hit a contested jumper to push the Bulls' lead back to five, but Mathurin came right back at him and converted a layup plus the foul to draw Indiana within two.

Two straight baskets by Nikola Vucevic padded Chicago's lead once again, but the Pacers answered with baskets by Buddy Hield and McConnell. After the latter, Aaron Nesmith intercepted a lazy inbound pass and Turner drew a foul on DeRozan, hitting both free throws to tie the game at 100 with 4:57 remaining.

Zach LaVine lost the ball out of bounds on Chicago's next possession. McConnell then converted a reverse layup on the baseline to give Indiana its first lead of the night with 4:27 remaining.

DeRozan drew a foul and hit both foul shots to tie the game on the other end. Hield then missed a three from the left wing. Bulls guard Alex Caruso tried to chase down the rebound on the baseline, but threw the ball right back to Hield, who hoisted another trey. This one bounced high off the rim before dropping through the net to put Indiana back in front.

The Bulls answered, however. Vucevic hit a hook shot at 3:35 and Ayo Dosunmu converted a jumper with 2:54 remaining to give the visitors a one-point lead. Mathurin hit one of two foul shots with 1:59 remaining to tie the game at 106.

On the ensuing possession, LaVine tried to drive, but lost the ball off his leg out of bounds. Caruso then fouled Nesmith on a screen and the third-year wing hit one of two free throws to put Indiana back in front.

DeRozan took it himself on the other end, somehow escaping a trap and getting to the lane for a go-ahead reverse layup with 1:13 to play. The Pacers answered, as McConnell found Mathurin on the left wing for a three and a 110-108 lead with 1:01 left.

Vucevic tied the game once again, driving down the lane and throwing down a left-hand slam over Turner with 41.9 seconds left. But once again, McConnell and Mathurin responded.

The veteran point guard drove to the baseline, then dropped off to the cutting rookie for the go-ahead layup with 29.2 seconds to play.

After a timeout, Hield got a hand on Caruso's inbound pass intended for Vucevic to force a turnover. The Bulls fouled Nesmith with 22 seconds remaining and this time he hit both foul shots.

LaVine missed a stepback three on the other end. The Bulls secured a long rebound, but LaVine was whistled for a travel, essentially ending the game. The improbable victory was Indiana's first since Jan. 8.

"I feel like a lot of teams in our position would have probably put their head down and said, 'Here we go again, loss number eight in a row,'" McConnell said after the victory. "But we've been saying it all year -- we don't quit. This team has a ton of fight. It's annoying that we have to come back from a deficit like that, but we showed a lot of maturity tonight."

DeRozan had a game-high 33 points, going 14-for-21 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line, but the second half belonged to the Blue & Gold.

Turner finished 11-for-21 from the field and pulled down eight rebounds, while Mathurin went 10-for-17 and collected seven boards. McConnell played 40 minutes, went 9-for-14 from the field, tallied a double-double, and came up with three steals.

It was a remarkable turnaround after a rough start on Tuesday. Vucevic hit two quick threes as the Bulls scored the first eight points of the game. Vucevic added another bucket and DeRozan scored seven points while the Pacers went just 2-for-12 from the field to open the game as Chicago opened up a 20-5 lead midway through the opening frame.

The Blue & Gold found some offensive rhythm over the rest of the first quarter thanks to Mathurin and McConnell (six points apiece), but still trailed 33-21 after the first 12 minutes.

The Bulls pushed their lead to 16 with two baskets in the first 45 seconds of the second quarter. Second-year guard Chris Duarte did his best to keep the Pacers in the game from there, hitting two 3-pointers and two free throws for Indiana's next eight points.

The Blue & Gold drew within 11 on Terry Taylor's jumper with 4:26 remaining in the first half, but the Bulls responded with nine unanswered points, extending their lead to 59-39 with 3:03 left in the second quarter.

The Pacers managed to trim four points off that deficit before the intermission, but still headed to the break facing a 62-46 deficit.

Turner sparked a Pacers charge out of halftime. The 26-year-old big man scored nine points over the first 3:25 of the third quarter as Indiana opened the second half with an 11-4 run.

"We put in a new action for him yesterday that gave him two looks at getting the ball in the post," Carlisle said of Turner's play out of halftime. "It was effective. He was able to score some, his activity led to some open shots, we were able to draw some fouls that allowed us to get to the bonus a little earlier in the quarter. It was something that was needed."

Turner scored 16 points in the quarter, hitting a stepback three over Andre Drummond to cut Indiana's deficit to 84-76 with 2:14 remaining in the frame. After Drummond missed two free throws, Taylor threw down a two-hand slam on the other end to pull Indiana within six.

That would be the closest the Blue & Gold would get for the remainder of the frame, as they entered the fourth quarter trailing 87-80. But they outscored Chicago by 13 in the final frame to come away with the victory.

Hield stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and four steals. Duarte added 11 points and nine rebounds for Indiana, while Taylor chipped in 11 points and five boards off the bench.

Vucevic had 20 points, eight rebounds, and five assists for Chicago. LaVine scored 14 points, but finished 4-for-14 from the field and 0-for-7 from 3-point range.

After snapping their losing streak, the Pacers will try to win their second game in as many nights on Wednesday in Orlando, when they take on Paolo Banchero and the Magic on the second night of a back-to-back.

Mathurin topped 20 points for the 19th time this season, Turner for the 13th, and McConnell for the second.

After tallying his third career triple-double on Saturday in Phoenix, McConnell tallied his fourth double-double of the season on Tuesday.

The Pacers matched their season low with eight turnovers, a feat they previously accomplished on Dec. 29 against Cleveland.

Hield went 4-for-11 from 3-point range and now has a league-leading 185 made 3-pointers this season. He also set new season highs with four steals and three blocks (the three blocks matched his career best, a mark he originally set on April 28, 2021).

Taylor, in his second year out of Austin Peay, reached double figures for the first time this season.

The Pacers limited the Bulls to just 5-of-24 3-point shooting, the fewest 3-point makes by an Indiana opponent this season.

"I think it was all about our trust. I think that first half we just weren't together as a cohesive unit as we were in the past. That was really just the message -- to get back on the same page and get back to competing and play hard." -Turner on what changed after halftime

"This is where he's unique to most rookies. Where a lot of rookies are hitting the wall and losing steam, he's actually gaining momentum. That's I think the thing that's most impressive about him. He just has a capacity and will to compete and get better." -Carlisle on Mathurin

"He shows a lot of maturity. Big-time players make big-time shots in big-time moments. That's what he did. He's done that pretty much all year for us. We trust him to do that and he stepped up in a big way." -McConnell on Mathurin's strong play down the stretch

"T.J. McConnell plays with an annoying persistence that everybody wishes they had on their team. He's a supercharged competitor and that's really a great compliment. Everything the guy stands for is totally about team...McConnell is a guy that players throughout the league respect because he brings it every single night and the NBA is a hard league to bring it every single night." -Carlisle

"It really starts with him. The pace that he plays with allows us to make reads. A lot of times when he's aggressive and he's getting to the paint, he's either going to finish or make the right play. That's huge for our offense, especially when we don't have a lot going for ourselves on a given possession." -Turner on McConnell igniting Indiana's offense

"I thought Terry Taylor really reestablished himself tonight. He gave us a physical presence. He generated some second-chance points when the game was mucky and ugly and we weren't able to get any rhythm." -Carlisle

The Pacers outscored Chicago 70-48 in the second half. After allowing the Bulls to shoot 55 percent in the first half, Indiana held them to 43.8 percent shooting in the second half. The Pacers, meanwhile, flipped the script, going from 32.7 percent shooting over the first two quarters to 53.2 percent over the final two.

The Pacers will take on the Magic in Orlando in the first meeting this season between Mathurin and Banchero -- the two Rookie of the Year frontrunners -- on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7:00 PM ET.

The Pacers return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>