By Richard Kagan

The Chicago Bulls came home to the United Center with a 2-8 record. They played against a team with more talent and lost to the Indiana Pacers, 105-87.

Victor Oladipo scored 25 points and Bojan Bogdanovic had 22 points to lead Indiana past the Bulls. Bogdanovic had six trey’s in the game. Oladipo had an excellent game, slicing through the Bulls defense.  Chicago trailed by ten points at the half, and at one time, trailed by 21 at 91-70 in the third quarter. The game was decided by the fourth quarter which was mostly “padding stats” time.

The bright spot for Chicago was Bobby Portis who scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. It was his second game back from an eight game suspension. It was his first game before the home crowd.  Kris Dunn scored 16 points and Lauri Markkanen had 12 points and 10 rebounds.   Justin Holiday scored 14 points for the home team.

Oladipo, acquired in a trade with OKC that included All-Star Paul George, came out ready to play. He has been a standout for the Pacers since the season began.

The Bulls shot 39.8% from the floor and that was a factor in the loss. If you can’t put the ball in the hoop,  it is very hard to win.

It was a good sign for Dunn to score 16 points. The Bulls need consistent play at the guard position. Center Robin Lopez had an off night after a hot one the game before.

Chicago really wasn’t competitive in this one.