Solomon Hill tallied 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 99-90 win over the Chicago Bulls, who were once again without injury-plagued star Derrick Rose.
A.J. Price came off the bench to score 21 points, while Luis Scola finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who have won three of their past four NBA games on the heels of a six-game losing streak.
“We’ve got some tough-minded guys in there,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “To get wins in Miami and Chicago, I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”
Jimmy Butler tallied 30 points and six rebounds for Chicago, whose brief two-game winning streak snapped in front of a crowd of 22,248 at United Center Arena.
Rose missed the game after tweaking his hamstring during Thursday’s win in Toronto. He has missed five contests of the young season so far due to ankle and hamstring issues.
The Bulls could have used Rose, who has expressed a desire take more time off during the regular season.
Rose has drawn criticism from former players like Charles Barkley, who said playing through aches and pains is part of being a multimillionaire NBA player.
“There are people that work harder than Derrick Rose that go home to a shack,” Barkley said. “Derrick Rose is making [US]$20 million dollars a year ... there are pros and cons of what we do for a living.”
Chicago dropped to 3-2 without Rose in the lineup this season.
The Pacers led 23-20 heading into the second quarter and 46-42 at halftime.
Pau Gasol hit two free throws to cut the Pacers lead to two, 67-65, late in the third, before the Pacers went on an 8-0 surge that stretched into the fourth quarter.
A Hill layup gave Indiana a 69-65 lead heading into the final frame, and he hit another from beyond the arc to start the fourth. A Price three-pointer capped it and increased the lead to 75-65.
An Aaron Brooks field goal and a pair of free throws from Butler got Chicago back to within 77-71 with just over nine minutes in regulation. However, Indiana responded by ripping off 11 consecutive points to help ice the contest.
Price netted seven points and hit two triples during the run, including one to finish it off and give the Pacers a 17-point lead.
Indiana cruised the rest of the way.
In Dallas, Texas, Monta Ellis scored a season-high 30 points as Dallas handed road-weary Minnesota their fifth straight loss to finish a six-game trek that included a stop in Mexico City.
Dirk Nowitzki was another of eight players in double figures with 15 as Dallas had a season high in points, two nights after setting a club record with a 53-point win over Philadelphia.
In other games on Saturday, it was:
‧ Cavaliers 127, Hawks 94
‧ Raptors 111, Jazz 93
‧ Wizards 98, Magic 93
‧ Grizzlies 95, Pistons 88
‧ Kings 94, Spurs 91
‧ Clippers 120, Suns 107
‧ Warriors 112, Hornets 87
‧ Trail Blazers 97, Nets 87
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite