Butler leads Bulls over Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS - Jimmy Butler had 27 points and nine rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 92-90 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
Pau Gasol had 20 points and Derrick Rose added 17 for the Bulls (22-9), who have won seven straight.
Chris Copeland scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, and George Hill and C.J. Miles each added 11 points for the Pacers (11-21), who trailed by as much as 21 points in the second half.
Butler scored a 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining to put the Bulls ahead for good 92-90.
The Bulls seemed to have put the game away when Mike Dunleavy converted a 3-point play to put the Bulls ahead 75-54 with 2:33 left in the third quarter. But the Pacers went on a 23-2 run and regained the lead on Lavoy Allen's basket to make it 84-83 with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter.
Chicago tied the four-game season series with the Pacers at 1-1 and won for the first time at Indiana after losing the previous four games.
Butler gave Chicago plenty of momentum, too.
He had two put-back dunks midway through the third quarter in a 6-2 run. Butler's put-back with 7:24 remaining in the third gave the Bulls a 59-41 lead.
Butler also scored on a one-handed dunk at the buzzer to give Chicago a 47-35 halftime lead.
Butler has caused Indiana trouble this season.
He scored 32 points in Indiana's 99-90 win over Chicago back on Nov. 15.
The two teams play the remaining two games of the series in March with each team hosting a game.
The Bulls, who lead the Central Division, has put up big offensive numbers lately and scored under 100 points for just the second time in the last seven games.
The Pacers, who are No. 2 in the league in scoring defense, held Chicago to 34.5 percent shooting and outscored Chicago 25-11 in the fourth quarter.