5 reasons the Pacers turned in one of their best games of the season in beating the Bulls

CHICAGO — The Bulls have been one of the most exciting and resurgent teams in the NBA this season, but with Alex Caruso sidelined due to a sore left wrist, Indiana looked like the squad deserving of more attention Monday after cruising to a 109-77 victory at the United Center. Here's what stood out:

Pacers play with pace

The Pacers entered Monday's game at Chicago ranked 19th out of 30 NBA teams in pace of play, meaning Indiana's lack of speed has resulted in less possessions per game than more than half of the league. Coach Rick Carlisle has placed a heavy emphasis on playing faster, and his team responded with a blazing hot start against the Bulls.

Indiana had 14 fast-break points in the first halfand scored 67 points before the break, which is the most points the Bulls have given up in a half this season. The Pacers also kept the ball hopping in their halfcourt sets, recording 27 assists on 40 made baskets.

"We needed to play with tempo against this team because of all of their switching, all of their steals guys, their quickness, all that kind of stuff," Carlisle said. "If we hadn't, we would've been in a lot of six-second, end of the (shot) clock (isolation) situations all night long, and that's a recipe for bad situations."

Defending DeRozan and LaVine

DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine were the fourth- and fifth-leading scorers in the NBA, respectively, ahead of Monday's game against the Pacers with averages of 26.8 and 26.5 points per game. Both guards have also been among the league leaders in fourth-quarter scoring, but after being held in check early thanks to Indiana's zone defense, the game was so far out of reach in the second half that neither played in the final frame.

DeRozan finished with 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting but had a game-high four turnovers. LaVine had 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting, and the Bulls were outscored by 34 points when he was on the floor.

"Those two guys are still superstar scorers," Carlisle said. "LaVine is a gold medal-winning Olympic player, and I still think DeRozan's one of the most underrated players in the history of the game. Just what he's done in his career and how he continues to just keep it going, he's a remarkable player. Those guys scored, but they didn't go crazy and that was important."

Caris LeVert gets going

It didn't take long for the Pacers to get on a roll, and Caris LeVert was a big reason reason. He went a perfect 5-of-5 in the first quarter for 10 points and finished with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting overall.

LeVert has had a tendency this season to force up tough shots as he tries to find an offensive rhythm, but he looked much more poised against the Bulls on Monday and it led to one of his most efficient performances of the year.

"One thing about Caris is he's gonna be ultra aggressive," teammate Justin Holiday said. "He's gonna go and get it, regardless of if that shot's going in or not. And to be honest with you, that's how all of us need to play in a sense of, 'You play your game, you shoot your shot.' If it fall it falls, if it doesn't it doesn't. Caris will not ever back down and we need him to be that way."

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Crashing the glass

The Bulls were without starting center Nikola Vucevic, who is recovering from COVID-19, and the Pacers took advantage of their opponent's weakened frontcourt. Indiana outrebounded Chicago 59-38, including 11 offensive rebounds that led to 11 second-chance points.

Domantas Sabonis led the way with game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive glass.

"I feel like every game, I do my job as a big man," Sabonis said. "Go out there, create pressure inside and try to get offensive rebounds. (Monday), Vucevic was out so I tried to make more of an impact on that early."

3-point disparity

Indiana owned the 3-point line Monday. The Pacers shot 13-of-31 from behind the arc, while holding Chicago to a 6-of-28 showing on 3s. Holiday drained four 3s for the second straight game and is now shooting 42.7% on 3-pointers this season.

"He got us off to a very good start," Carlisle said. "Hit the first shot of the game, hit a key shot or two at the end of the shot clock. The plus-minus number I think tells the story. The guy's plus 27 in (26) minutes, which is great."

Indiana 109, Chicago 77

INDIANA (109): Holiday 5-9 0-0 14, Sabonis 8-14 5-5 21, Turner 5-9 0-1 12, Brogdon 4-9 6-6 16, LeVert 6-9 0-0 12, Craig 2-3 0-0 4, Duarte 3-11 1-2 9, Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Martin 3-7 0-0 7, Bitadze 0-5 0-0 0, Lamb 2-4 0-0 5, Brissett 1-2 0-0 3, McConnell 1-4 2-2 4, Wanamaker 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 40-90 16-18 109.

CHICAGO (77): DeRozan 8-16 2-2 18, LaVine 7-18 0-1 17, Bradley 3-4 0-0 6, Ball 0-7 0-0 0, White 2-10 0-0 4, Brown Jr. 2-9 1-2 6, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Jones Jr. 2-3 4-6 8, Simonovic 0-1 1-2 1, Dosunmu 3-4 0-0 7, Dotson 1-3 0-0 2, Green 1-2 1-2 3, Thomas 2-7 0-0 5. Totals 31-85 9-15 77.

Indiana 31 36 22 20 — 109

Chicago 16 30 15 16 — 77

3-Point Goals—Indiana 13-31 (Holiday 4-7, Turner 2-2, Brogdon 2-5, Duarte 2-6, Lamb 1-2, Martin 1-3, LeVert 0-2, Sabonis 0-2), Chicago 6-28 (LaVine 3-7, Dosunmu 1-2, Brown Jr. 1-4, Thomas 1-4, Dotson 0-2, White 0-3, Ball 0-4). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Indiana 59 (Sabonis 11), Chicago 38 (Ball, Bradley, Brown Jr., Jones Jr., White 5). Assists_Indiana 27 (Brogdon 7), Chicago 13 (LaVine, White 3). Total Fouls_Indiana 15, Chicago 16. A_21,586 (20,917)

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Bulls: Caris LeVert, rebounds and 3s lead Indiana to win