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Fansided

Pacers fall to Chicago in penultimate preseason game

By Scott Stewart

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The Indiana Pacers let one slip for the first time since the preseason opener against the Pelicans, this time to the Bulls in Chicago, 103-94.

Despite 26 points and 13 boards from Paul George in 35 minutes of play, the Pacers lost a tough one at the United Center in the second-to-last preseason game.

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Starting for Chicago – Hinrich, Butler, Tony Snell, Mirotic, and Pau Gasol, and for Indiana – George Hill, Ellis, PG, Lavoy Allen, and Mahinmi. However, the big story of the evening was Aaron Brooks off the bench for the home side, contributing 22 points off 8-14 shooting 4-6 from the 3pt line as the Bulls were staving off Indiana. Of course, there was this THUNDEROUS finish from PG, though:

Oct 20, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard

Jimmy Butler

(21) passes to ball against Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) during the first half preseason game at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Pacers went down into halftime, 48-45, but had let a 10 point lead at the end of the first quarter dwindle into a deficit, shooting 3-24 in the second. After the half, the two teams were relatively evening but the Bulls pulled away.

THE BRIGHT SPOTS:
For Indiana, Monta Ellis was a spark and showed his speed on multiple occasions. The new Pacers guard racked up 14 points on 6-11 shooting and was one of four in double digits. Additionally, Ian Mahinmi was the most efficient for the Blue & Gold, scoring 14 points on 6-9 shooting.

THE NOT GREAT:
First and foremost, shooting 3-24 in any quarter, though highly unlikely, will derail any team’s momentum and clearly had the same effect on Indiana last night. George was excellent and Monta and Mahinmi also played well, but for the most part everyone else was highly underwhelming. In fact, George’s 26 points means he outscored the entire bench (21).

All in all, things could have gone better on an overall average evening, but with it being preseason and only the Pacers second loss we will chalk it up to sloppy play. The Pacers are back in action on Thursday in Fort Wayne against the Charlotte Hornets.

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