The Indiana Pacers are focusing on reducing turnovers as they try to end their four-game losing streak against the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
In their 99-90 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday in New York, the Pacers committed 12 turnovers in the first half and 16 overall, which contributed to their defeat. This followed a 122-111 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, where they gave the ball away 21 times.
If the Pacers repeat this mistake against the fast-paced Bulls, it could cause big problems, as the Bulls are known for thriving in open-floor situations.
“Turnovers have been a problem for us,” said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. “We have real clean quarters and then we have real dirty quarters with turnovers. It bit us again. … Those are controllable things. We’ve got to keep working on it. Really no excuses for it.”
Part of the issue may be the challenging schedule.
“We’re back-to-back — it’s a lousy travel situation,” Carlisle said, referring to the games in Toronto and Brooklyn. “It’s hell getting in and out of New York, we got to the hotel at 2:30 (Wednesday morning). That contributes a little bit to it, but our guys kept fighting.”
Despite the losses, Tyrese Haliburton scored 17 points against Brooklyn, and T.J. McConnell added 14 points, contributing to the team’s strong bench play. Both will be crucial against Chicago, although Andrew Nembhard may be out due to left knee tendinitis.
The Bulls are looking for their third consecutive win and will be finishing their own back-to-back set. They won 139-124 against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday. Ayo Dosunmu had a career-high 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists, while Nikola Vucevic scored 39 points on 16-of-22 shooting, taking advantage of Victor Wembanyama’s absence.
“He has been great all year and he played a great game tonight,” said Bulls coach Billy Donovan. “With Wembanyama being out, they (Spurs) didn’t have the same kind of length at the rim.
They tried to do some things to switch some of his pick-and-rolls, but he’s such a smart player, he can figure out where mismatches are. (He can) post up, he shot threes, he played in the pocket — I thought his game was great.”
The Bulls led throughout their game in San Antonio, scoring 73 points in the first half, matching their best first-half effort of the season. Their total of 139 points was their highest since December 2022.
