For a second night in a row, the Chicago Bulls lost in ugly fashion as the Indiana Pacers put a hurt on the Bulls despite a third quarter ejection for Pacers star, Paul George.
Next: Five Big Takeaways from Bulls vs. Knicks
It wasn’t terrible at the beginning. No, it took a good three minutes of play before the Pacers built a large, permanent lead.
There could be talk about the effects of the second game of a back-to-back, the dreaded SEGABABA that the league has been working to reduce in team scheduling. There could be debate over the validity of claims that it truly impacts teams’ ability and win probability this early in the season. The best discussion might be more about the aging stars on the roster – players that looked flat from the start.
No matter how you cut it, Chicago was on a SEGABABA against Indiana and presumably still reeling from the big loss they suffered against the Knicks the night before.
Ultimately, the same problems that plagued the Bulls on Friday night, and against Boston on Wednesday, were present in defeat on Saturday night. Chicago failed to run a cohesive offense, failed to move the ball in productive ways, failed to take care of the ball and shot poorly from everywhere other than the free throw line.
It was a rough outing, so let’s sift through the aftermath for some takeaways moving forward from this ugly loss and then put it behind us.