Hield helps Pacers rally from 24 down to beat Bulls 117-113

INDIANAPOLIS(AP) — Buddy Hield made six 3-pointers in the second half andfinished with 27 points, helping the Indiana Pacers rally from a24-point deficit after the first quarter and defeat the ChicagoBulls 117-113 on Wednesday night.

Hield brokeReggie Miller’s single-season franchise record for 3-pointers onhis final 3 — his 230th — with 22 games remaining.

“It’s the newNBA. You shoot 3s and I shoot 3s at a high level,” said Hield, theNBA leader. “Passing a legend like Reggie in Indiana is a testamentto hard work and my teammates finding me in the right spots.”

TyreseHaliburton banked in a 9-foot shot for a 113-112 lead in the finalminute, Myles Turner sank two free throws and Hield closed it outwith a pair of foul shots with 7.1 seconds remaining as the Pacerssnapped a five-game skid.

“The patternin a lot of NBA games is you get hit in the face and then you fightback,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Fighting back is a toughway to consistently win in this league.”

The Pacers,down 39-15 after the first quarter, have trailed by double digitsin the opening quarter of 24 games.

“We don’twant to be coming back all the time,” Hield said. “It’sannoying.”

Aaron Nesmithscored 21 points for Indiana, which had lost 16 of 18. Turner added17, Haliburton 16 and Bennedict Mathurin 14.

“We weredangerously close in the first quarter to being booed by thegreatest fans in the NBA,” Carlisle said. “We responded.”

The Bulls’Zach LaVine scored 35 points, including 12 in the openingquarter.

“This hashappened a lot to us,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “We competepretty hard, but what happens is the game gets ratcheted up —physically, mentally, emotionally. You’ve got to be able to comedown on both ends of the floor and be incredibly detailed andfocused. You have to execute.”

James Whitehad 25 and Nikola Vucevic added 19 — but with just seven reboundsas his league-best streak of double-doubles ended at nine games asthe Bulls dropped their fifth straight.

“The game isnot won in the first five minutes,” Donovan said. “You’ve got toplay your way through.”

TIP-INS

Bulls: Hadbeaten the Pacers in four of five meetings. ... Had averaged just93.5 points in the previous four losses.

Pacers:Eighth-year pro T.J. McConnell made his sixth start while replacingrookie Andrew Nembhard in the backcourt. McConnell had sevenassists, but just two points on free throws.