The Indiana Pacers rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Chicago Bulls 113-110 on Wednesday night.
Pascal Siakam dropped 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 18, Jarace Walker had 16, Benedict Mathurin added 15, and Aaron Nesmith finished with 14 for the Pacers.
Nesmith made a go-ahead reverse layup with 13.9 seconds left and blocked Coby White’s attempt from close range with 2.9 seconds remaining.
The Pacers have won two of three, including a Friday night win over defending champion Oklahoma City in an NBA Finals rematch.
On the other hand, Nikola Vucevic scored 25 points, and Matas Buzelis had 20 for the Bulls, who lost their second straight to fall one game under .500 with a 23-24 win-loss record.
The Bulls led 101-87 on a layup by Jalen Smith with 7:14 to go, but Indiana responded with an 18-4 run, and Jay Huff’s three-pointer with two minutes left tied it at 105-all.
Vucevic’s three-pointer with 33.5 seconds left gave Chicago its last lead at 110-109. Johnny Furphy hit two free throws for the final margin, which was the Pacers’ biggest lead of the game.
Meanwhile, Bulls’ Josh Giddey finished with seven assists to surpass 2,000 for his career. The 23-year-old guard became the 15th player in NBA history to reach that milestone at age 23 or younger.
Both teams will play at home in their next games: the Bulls host the Heat on Thursday, and the Pacers host the Hawks on Saturday.
