Veteran center Andre Drummond made his first start with the Chicago Bulls this week and the plan looks to continue as Nikola Vucevic misses time with a groin injury.
Drummond answered the call with 24 points and 25 rebounds in Tuesday’s home victory against the Atlanta Hawks. With the Indiana Pacers visiting the Bulls on Thursday night, the two-time All-Star is preparing as he would for any other game.
“My mentality is I’m not a backup,” Drummond said. “I still believe I’m a starter in this league.”
Given Vucevic’s durability — Tuesday marked the first game he missed since the 2021-22 season finale — Drummond has had little chance to fill that role permanently in Chicago.
He will get the chance in the near-term. Bulls coach Billy Donovan didn’t specify Tuesday how long Vucevic would be out, saying “a lot of it is going to be how he responds to rehab.”
Vucevic underwent an MRI on Tuesday.
Already without Zach LaVine and Torrey Craig due to injury, the Bulls fought off the Hawks down the stretch behind clutch play from leading scorer DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan’s game-high 25 points included 11 in the fourth quarter and eight in the final 2:50.
Six Bulls scored in double figures.
Indiana snapped a two-game skid with Tuesday’s 123-117 road victory against the Houston Rockets. Tyrese Haliburton sparked the Pacers with 33 points and 10 assists while making a go-ahead 3-pointer with a minute to go.
Although Indiana has lost six of eight, the win put the team back above .500. After Thursday, the Pacers are set to play six of their next seven games at home.
“When you get .500, you feel a little more pressure because nobody wants to be under .500,” Haliburton said. “We felt like this game was kind of a must win for us. That’s a really good team, a really feisty team, and we just figured out a way to pull it out today.”
A 19-for-43 effort from 3-point range boosted the Pacers, who were outscored 74-44 in the paint while playing without Bruce Brown (bruised right knee). Fellow forward Obi Toppin, typically a starter, played just 14 minutes and 31 seconds.
Center Myles Turner was Indiana’s second-leading scorer with 18 points to go with two blocks and five rebounds.
“I thought Myles Turner played a great defensive game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
Turner figures to need a repeat effort as he defends a rejuvenated Drummond.
Chicago defeated host Indiana 112-105 on Oct. 30 behind a 24-point, 17-rebound double-double from Vucevic. Turner logged a double-double for the Pacers, contributing 20 points and 11 boards.
The Bulls erased a five-point deficit after three quarters to improve to 6-4 in their past 10 meetings against their Central Division rivals. Both teams have scored at least 110 points in three of the past five matchups.
The Pacers won three of four from the Bulls last season, with three games decided by six points or fewer.
Chicago leads the all-time series 104-100, including a 68-32 mark at home.
–Field Level Media