After stopping an 11-game home losing streak on Sunday, the Indiana Pacers will try to win successive road games for just the second time this season as they visit the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
As with the Bulls (29-46), the Pacers (17-58) have been eliminated from Eastern Conference playoff contention.
Indiana had lost 18 of 19 overall before a standout effort from Pascal Siakam — 30 points, 11 rebounds, six assists — steered them to Sunday’s 135-118 victory against the visiting Miami Heat.
“Pascal had a great night,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
For his part, Siakam wants to make sure Indiana has a productive stretch run and offseason as the team awaits the return of star Tyrese Haliburton, who has been sidelined since suffering a torn right Achilles tendon during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
“We’re gonna learn a lot,” Siakam said. “And I hope we learn a lot from this season. … For the past couple of years here we’ve done a lot of winning.”
The Bulls will play two of their next three games at home after an 0-4 road trip that featured three losses by at least 15 points.
The latest came Monday in San Antonio, as the Spurs rolled 129-114. Tre Jones scored 23 points while Leonard Miller added a career-high 21 and Collin Sexton had 20.
Monday also brought adversity off the court as the team waived recent acquisition Jaden Ivey for conduct detrimental to the team that included a string of controversial social media posts. A former lottery pick of the Detroit Pistons, Ivey had been shut down for the season due to injury.
“Obviously the whole thing is kind of unfortunate in a way,” Bulls guard Josh Giddey said. “I hope he gets the help he needs, whatever he’s going through or not going through. I do really hope he gets help. It’s not going to be with the Bulls anymore, but wherever it is, I hope he gets it.”
Indiana is 7-3 against Chicago in the past 10 meetings between the Central Division rivals and is seeking a four-game sweep of the season series.
The Bulls hope to avoid losing four in a row to the Pacers for the first time since a 10-game slide bridging the 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons.
Siakam has led Indiana in scoring in each of its previous three victories against Chicago, averaging 26.7 points on 47.6% shooting that includes 43.8% accuracy from long range.
Chicago traded the duo who paced its offense in the past two meetings with Indiana, Coby White and Nikola Vucevic. But Giddey, who kept the team afloat with 17 points in a 103-101 loss at Indiana on Nov. 29, remains.
Giddey has averaged 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.4 assists across 12 career games against the Pacers. Matas Buzelis is averaging 15.7 points and 10.3 rebounds versus Indiana this season.
Pacers center Jay Huff blocked two shots Sunday for his sixth multi-block game of March. His 138 blocks are second in the NBA.
–Field Level Media
