{"id":428145,"date":"2025-12-06T05:53:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T05:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/428145\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T05:53:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T05:53:16","slug":"3-takeaways-from-120-105-loss-to-indiana-pacers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/428145\/","title":{"rendered":"3 takeaways from 120-105 loss to Indiana Pacers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The panic button is on the desk.<\/p>\n

It might not be time to press it, but that day is coming soon. The first week of December is still early enough into the NBA season to allow hope or optimism or any other vein of positivity to stay alive for at least a few more days.<\/p>\n

But the Chicago Bulls need to stare at that bright red button long and hard \u2014 for the rest of the week, for the rest of the month, until they figure out how to get back above .500.<\/p>\n

Things are bad. They\u2019re not getting better. That became clear in the third quarter of Friday\u2019s 120-105 loss to the Indiana Pacers as half-hearted boos began to filter down from the 300 level of the United Center.<\/p>\n

\n

Photos: Indiana Pacers 120, Chicago Bulls 105<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Matas Buzelis had just committed the 11th Bulls turnover of the game, chucking an entry pass well above the outstretched hand of Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107. The error served as the second half of a demoralizing one-two punch after Josh Giddey stumbled out of bounds on the prior play, giving the Pacers the opportunity to push ahead 75-59.<\/p>\n

Within minutes, the Bulls cut the deficit to three points. It didn\u2019t matter. They lacked the offensive firepower and the defensive fortitude to overcome an early Pacers lead built off errors and turnovers.<\/p>\n

How does a team orchestrate a complete collapse against a four-win team?<\/p>\n

Start by making seven 3-pointers in the first quarter, then let that shot disintegrate for the remaining three quarters. Accept the pace set by the defense rather than establishing an independent metronome.<\/p>\n

Hyperventilate when guards Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell hike up their shorts and get their hands active at the half-court line. Sling passes without purpose. Turn the ball over 18 times.<\/p>\n

Allow the opponent to gouge three-lane thoroughfares through the paint. Don\u2019t rotate, then rotate too hard. Melt in the face of every Pascal Siakam isolation turnaround jumper. Foul. Foul again.<\/p>\n

The Bulls have lost six games in a row and seven of eight to fall four games below .500 at 9-13. It isn\u2019t quite enough to squash hope entirely. But for Coby White, the first turning point of the season already has arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still a very long season,\u201d White said. \u201cI\u2019ve been through the ups and downs here for seven years now. The most important thing is we stick together through this. The season\u2019s always going to be filled with adversities. We got a chance to change the narrative right now. The most important thing for me is we don\u2019t let go of the rope and we do this thing together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are three takeaways from the loss.<\/p>\n

1. White and Giddey were reunited.
\n\"BullsBulls guard Coby White drives to the rim against Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard in the third quarter Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, at the United Center. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The Bulls enjoyed a rare evening with four of their five starters on the court as White returned to the lineup after missing three games. The difference was immediate and obvious.<\/p>\n

White relieves pressure on fellow guard Giddey to handle the majority of the team\u2019s ballhandling efforts. He poses an automatic threat on the perimeter that drags defenders out of shape on offense, clearing up more room for Buzelis and Julian Phillips to cut into space toward the rim. And at his best, White can defy the standard laws of physics, suspending himself in midair to bend a pass around a defender for a corner 3 or levitating the ball up and down and up again for a reverse layup.<\/p>\n

In his first game back from another calf strain \u2014 this time in his left leg \u2014 White buoyed his team with 22 points and six assists. Most importantly, Friday\u2019s game reunited White and Giddey, giving the Bulls a much-needed look at their central star duo. White and Giddey had shared the court for only 95 minutes this season entering Friday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

But Giddey didn\u2019t balance out the other side of this equation. He scored only nine points, four of which came from the free-throw line. Giddey went 2-for-9 from the floor and committed five turnovers against six assists.<\/p>\n

And White still wasn\u2019t a fix-all solution. The Bulls were still short-staffed at the point guard position because of the absence of Ayo Dosunmu, who is sidelined with a sprained thumb. This meant relying on Jevon Carter \u2014 who scored 14 points \u2014 to supply backup minutes at the position off the bench.<\/p>\n

2. Zach Collins made his season debut.
\n\"PacersPacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2) passes to forward Isaiah Jackson (22) as Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) and forward Zach Collins (12) defend in the third quarter Dec. 5, 2025, at the United Center. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Collins also came off the injury report Friday after suffering a fractured wrist in the final game of the preseason, an injury that required surgery and a six-week delay to the start of his season.<\/p>\n

The Bulls knew this would be a rusty start for Collins, who is typically one of the stronger rim defenders on the roster. The Pacers targeted the big man on defense immediately, taking advantage of his sluggish pace of play after a month-and-a-half on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

Collins found some rhythm with his shot, hitting a kick-out 3 at the end of the first quarter for his first points of the season. He finished with eight points and six rebounds in 20 minutes, 34 seconds, filling in a necessary shift with fellow backup center Jalen Smith injured.<\/p>\n

3. Steps forward (and backward) for Buzelis.
\n\"BullsBulls forward Matas Buzelis, left, and Pacers guard Ethan Thompson reach for a loose ball in the second quarter Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, at the United Center. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

One of the quiet high points of the game came from the second-year forward, who logged the second double-double of his career. Buzelis had 19 points and 12 rebounds, providing a dominant presence on the defensive glass.<\/p>\n

\n

Why hasn\u2019t Matas Buzelis taken a significant 2nd-year leap for Chicago Bulls yet \u2014 and what happens next?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Most notably, he went 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. This reflected Buzelis\u2019 improved ability to force his way downhill, inviting contact that forced the Pacers into fouling positions.<\/p>\n

Of course, the game still came with growing pains. Buzelis was also one of the leading perpetrators in the team\u2019s early errors, coughing up a team-high six turnovers. This was partially a result of his heightened role as a ballhandler without the injured Dosunmu, Tre Jones or Kevin Huerter on the court, but Buzelis also made several rushed decisions at the rim, reflecting areas of needed growth as a playmaker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The panic button is on the desk. It might not be time to press it, but that day…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":428146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[42764,960,3127,42766,5386,1818,1267,185456,17461,199174,40045,11435,31391],"class_list":{"0":"post-428145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-ayo-dosunmu","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bulls","11":"tag-coby-white","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois","14":"tag-indiana-pacers","15":"tag-jevon-carter","16":"tag-josh-giddey","17":"tag-julian-phillips","18":"tag-matas-buzelis","19":"tag-nikola-vucevic","20":"tag-zach-collins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115671074725252718","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}