Isaac Okoro’s absence has resulted in myriad issues for the Chicago Bulls, who are allowing teams to score at an alarmingly high rate.
With Okoro expected to miss his fourth straight game due to a back injury, the Bulls will aim for an improved defensive effort when they face the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night in Indianapolis.
Chicago has allowed 120 or more points in 11 straight games, including a 123-116 loss to the Charlotte Hornets in NBA Cup play Friday night. The Bulls have lost eight games in the span.
Coby White and Josh Giddey each scored 25 points Friday to lead the Bulls while Tre Jones added 16. Giddey, with 11 rebounds and nine assists, fell just short of his fifth triple-double in November.
Chicago has lost three of its past four games while struggling defensively.
“There’s times with (Okoro) that we can put him on different players, and he’s an outstanding defender, and he’s guarded some of the best players in this league throughout his career,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “But with him being out, we don’t have the luxury to just rely on one guy stopping one guy.”
The Bulls are unlikely to receive much sympathy from the injury-plagued Pacers, who beat the visiting Washington Wizards 119-86 on Friday for just their third win in 19 games.
“You can’t take it for granted,” Indiana forward Pascal Siakam said. “When you’re used to winning, you take it for granted. We’ve got to take it and enjoy it and know what it took for us to get to that. … We can’t keep losing.”
Indiana played without multiple players, including Andrew Nembhard (right quad contusion), Quenton Jackson (hamstring strain), Aaron Nesmith (MCL sprain) and Obi Toppin (foot stress fracture). Star Tyrese Haliburton remains out long-term with a torn Achilles tendon.
Siakam had 24 points and 11 rebounds against the Wizards and Bennedict Mathurin added 20 points. Indiana led by as many as 33 and shot 52.2% from the field.
“It’s great to win,” Mathurin said. “Looking forward to keep building as a team. And I think we have a great opportunity that’s in front of us.”
Indiana is looking to win consecutive games for the first time this season. The Pacers won three of their four meetings against Chicago last season, when they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games in the NBA Finals.
On Saturday, both Indiana and Chicago will be playing the second game of a back-to-back set, and Donovan said the Bulls will have to be mentally tough following the loss to Charlotte.
“When you get into 20, 30 games, most of these guys don’t feel good,” Donovan said. “I don’t know any guy that’s 100 percent. It’s battling human nature all the time. How you do with internal talk, how you’re getting prepared, focusing on the things that you have control over? A lot of it is the controllable stuff.”
The Bulls will need to regroup in time to keep pace with Indiana’s rejuvenated duo of Siakam and T.J. McConnell. Siakam recorded his fifth double-double of the season on Saturday and has at least 20 points in six of his past seven games.
McConnell continues to provide a spark after missing the season’s first 10 games with a hamstring injury. He has scored in double figures in five straight games while shooting 66% (33 of 50) from the field over that stretch.
