Butler, Bulls fend off George, Pacers

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose suffers a sprained ankle against the Indiana Pacers but is confident that he will not face a long spell on the sidelines.

The Chicago Bulls were wearing a few wack grey, sleeved uniforms tonight, but that didn’t stop them from doing a few lovely things on the floor.

The Chicago Bulls managed to pull out a 96-95 win over the Indiana Pacers at the United Centre on Monday thanks to Jimmy Butler blocking Indiana’s Paul George’s game-winning shot attempt just before time expired. Unless you actually, ya know, DO hit your head.

Chicago is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games at home. Frontcourt pillars Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor each recorded a double-double in the loss while rookie point guard T.J. McConnell collected 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The problem is that Paul George is back for the Indiana Pacers, and he doesn’t look like he has missed a beat. He also drew a charge on Tony Snell with 1:02 remaining and IN down 96-93, giving the Pacers another chance. He was an efficient 9-for-18 shooting against the Pacers, and hopefully this was just a minor setback in an otherwise solid season for Rose.

They’re probably somewhere in between that team that struggled early and the one that’s soared lately, but trending more towards the former with injury concerns.

The Pacers trailed by as many as 15 in the third, but Ellis scored eight in the period to help them get within four heading into the fourth.

The new system was a serious topic of discussion this offseason in IN as Vogel’s original plan was to play George at the power forward spot mostly.

A more impressive stat is that they had only allowed 90.5 points per game in the last six games. Those three also led the team in minutes played and are gaining valuable experience the front office hopes will eventually lead to wins in the future.BUZZER BEATERS1.

MAVERICKS 92, 76ERS 86 (at Philadelphia) – Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points to lead the Mavericks over the winless 76ers.

His status for Wednesday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns is unknown, but he’s able to walk on the injured ankle.