Pacers fail to hold off Bulls, fall to eighth

The Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls were tied at 84 entering the fourth quarter. Neither team shot better than 26 percent over the final 12 minutes and it was the Bulls, via a Jimmy Butler pull-up jumper from 10 feet out, prevailing late.

The final tally: Bulls 98, Pacers 96.

“It was one of those games that we feel like we should’ve took,” said Pacers center Ian Mahinmi, who had 18 points and seven rebounds.

Pacers didn’t get very looks, particularly in the fourth frame. They missed their final six shots and 17 of their 22 attempts, including a C.J. Miles 3-pointer for the win as time expired.

“It was real stagnant,” Paul George said of the offense. “Despite the looks we got, we got to get better looks than we did.

The Bulls snapped a four-game losing streak and the Pacers’ loss, paired with a Detroit win (over Oklahoma City) dropped them to eighth in the Eastern Conference standings … with eight games to go.

Detroit (40-35) has a half-game lead on the Pacers (39-35). Chicago (37-37), meanwhile, is two games back from the Pacers in ninth.

Next up: The Pacers host the Orlando Magic on Thursday.