On the second night of a back-to-back, Josh Giddey and the Chicago Bulls lost 132-123 to Johnny Furphy and the visiting Indiana Pacers on Saturday (AEDT).
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Fourth-year floor general Giddey went head-to-head with fellow Australian guard Furphy, who is in the midst of his first NBA season after being drafted 35th to the Indiana Pacers this past off-season.
Giddey finished with 10 points on 5-13 shooting from the field and 0-6 from three-point distance, six assists and five rebounds — and a minus-10 overall with three turnovers — while Furphy scored five points after making both his shots in 10 minutes of action.
Giddey missed his first of two first-quarter three-point attempts but forced a Pascal Siakam turnover on the other end.
A downhill-driving Giddey then beat Tyrese Haliburton for his first two points of the evening. The 22-year-old was energised in the early going, showing defensive intent and getting scrappy when loose balls were on the floor to be won.
Australian three-point specialist Johnny Furphy checked in late in the first quarter for the Pacers and immediately committed a foul — literally coming face-to-face with Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu — and returned to Rick Carlisle’s bench shortly after.
But the Kansas product returned to the game in the second quarter and quickly made a positive impact, beating the Bulls down the floor for an easy layup to prompt a Billy Donovan timeout.
Then, Furphy drained a corner three to beat the expiring shot clock, tallying five quick points from two shots. He also flew around on defensive rotations.
As Furphy checked back out, Giddey returned to the Bulls’ line-up — only to miss his third three-point attempt; an air-ball this time.
He made amends shortly after, however, pouncing on a turnover that led to a shooting foul against the Pacers, then making a clever basket cut for an easy layup, before alley-ooping to Zach LaVine on a fast break.
Giddey tired towards the end of the first half, surrendering a simple drive to the hoop for Indiana guard Andrew Nembhard — Donovan responded by immediately calling a timeout and replacing Giddey with Dosunmu for the final 1:15 of the half.
Giddey finished the first half with six points on 3-7 shooting and four rebounds and was an overall minus-10, while Furphy saw just five minutes of action but played valuable minutes.
Giddey played just four minutes of the third quarter — missing two more three-pointers — before again being relegated to the bench in favour of Dosunmu.
The 22-year-old didn’t appear for the rest of the period, whereas Furphy returned late in the third just to commit his second foul of the evening.
Furphy stayed in the game early in the final quarter, snatching a key offensive rebound to force a jump ball.
“Good hustle by the rookie, Furphy,” the Bulls’ broadcast conceded.
The 6’8 forward then checked out for the final time, with Indiana holding onto a tenuous five-point lead.
Giddey returned to the game with nine minutes left and immediately found LaVine for a catch-and-shoot three-pointer before later getting free for a layup after another nifty basket cut.
Giddey drove for a key layup with just over two minutes left as Donovan opted to leave the Australian ball-handler in the game in the clutch.
However, Donovan would ultimately come to regret that decision as, coming out of a timeout, Giddey committed an inexcusable turnover with his inbounds pass, leading to an easy Ben Mathurin basket.
“That was just a dreadful pass — you knew that was coming,” Bulls broadcaster Adam Amin said of Giddey’s turnover. “You cannot get that lazy with TJ McConnell in the area.”
The Pacers led by an unassailable 11 points that the Bulls weren’t able to overcome in what was a high-scoring affair at the United Center.
Cavs outlast Denver in Cleveland | 01:05
Elsewhere, the Boston Celtics grinded out a 111-105 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday with Jayson Tatum leading the way, putting up 34 points.
Tatum added 10 rebounds and five assists in another clutch performance while Jrue Holiday scored 20 points and Sam Hauser helped out with 16 points off the bench.
The victory moves the defending NBA champions to 19-4 and leaves them in second place in the Eastern Conference behind the early season NBA pacesetters, the 20-3 Cleveland Cavaliers.
It was a well-contested battle, befitting a game which could well feature in the playoffs with neither team managing to get more than eight points ahead while there were 14 lead changes.
The Celtics pulling clear late when Al Horford produced a three-pointer to make it 105-101 before Holiday, on a pass from Tatum, made a 14-foot floater to open up a five-point lead with 25.1 seconds left.
“This was a tough win,” Tatum said. “We didn’t necessarily shoot the ball as well as we wanted to, especially in the first half. But we just, we had to find a way.
“Second half we hit some shots, but we really picked it up on the defensive end and everybody played a part.” Damian Lillard top scored with 30 points for the Bucks while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 30 but Milwaukee fell to an 11-11 record.
Paul George, back after a knee injury, scored 21 points and provided nine assists for the Philadelphia 76ers in their 102-94 win over the Orlando Magic.
The 76ers were again without Joel Embiid, who is dealing with a knee problem, as they split a home series with the Magic after a defeat without George on Wednesday.
K.J. Martin was key to the win for the 76ers as he delivered 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting after coming off the bench.
— with AFP
