DeMar DeRozan scored two of his season-high 46 points on an overtime-forcing jumper with 0.3 seconds left in regulation, and he added nine in the extra frame as the Chicago Bulls knocked off the Indiana Pacers 132-129 on Wednesday in Indianapolis.
DeRozan scored the final three points of regulation after Indiana sent him to the free-throw line with 3.8 seconds remaining. He made the first, then the Pacers knocked the ensuing intentional miss out of bounds, setting up DeRozan’s game-tying bucket from the baseline.
DeRozan struck first in overtime, then gave the Bulls the lead for good on a pull-up 3-pointer with 2:17 to go in the extra period. His triple answered one from Myles Turner, who hit four 3-pointers between the final 81 seconds of regulation and overtime.
Turner shot 5-for-8 from deep on the night en route to a team-high 27 points. He led seven Indiana scorers in double figures.
Chicago played the overtime without Coby White, who came down hard after his layup attempt was thwarted on a spectacular, chase-down block by Pascal Siakam with 9.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Siakam’s swat occurred when he sprinted the floor in pursuit of White, who had a breakaway off a rebound after a missed 3-point attempt by Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard. The block preserved a one-point Pacers lead, which a pair of Aaron Nesmith free throws extended to three, setting the stage for DeRozan’s end-of-regulation heroics.
Siakam finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Nesmith added 13 points. Tyrese Haliburton finished with 17 points and 14 assists. He had a contested look at a would-be, game-tying 3-point attempt at the end of overtime, but it was no good.
T.J. McConnell scored 16 points, Jalen Smith had 15 points and Jarace Walker notched 10 points, all coming off the bench for the Pacers.
Chicago’s Alex Caruso scored 23 points and dished seven assists, including the pass to DeRozan on the overtime-forcing shot. Ayo Dosunmu scored 20 points and Nikola Vucevic posted 12 points and 12 rebounds.
White had 15 points before his late exit.
–Field Level Media
