Mike Dunleavy scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half and the Chicago Bulls led for the final 39-plus minutes in a 103-86 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.
Nikola Mirotic led the way with 25 points off the bench and Pau Gasol added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls, returned home after losing the last two games of a three-game road trip in Charlotte and Oklahoma City.
They won for only the second time in their last seven games and remained 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland for first place in the Central Division.
Solomon Hill scored 13 points and Roy Hibbert had 12 to lead the Pacers, who shot just 39.5 percent in the game.
Chicago outrebounded Indiana 52-38.
"The rebounding got us into the open floor, got us into a rhythm and got us some easy baskets," said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.
Indiana, battling for one of the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, has lost three in a row on the heels of a season-long seven-game winning streak.
Dunleavy gave the Bulls the lead for good on a 3-pointer that made it 20-18 with 3:14 to play in the first quarter.
He led all players with nine points in the quarter and Gasol had six points and six rebounds to help the Bulls take a 24-22 edge into the second.
Dunleavy scored 10 more points before halftime, hitting two 3s during an 11-0 run that stretched Chicago's lead from one point to 11 with four minutes left in the second quarter.
The Bulls went up by as much as 14 points on the way to a 51-41 advantage at the break. They never let the Pacers get closer than three points in the third quarter and led 76-68 going into the fourth, where a 7-0 burst midway through put the margin in double digits for the rest of the game.
Game Notes
Tony Snell scored 14 points, Aaron Brooks added 13 and Joakim Noah had 14 rebounds for the Bulls ... It was Chicago's first double-digit win since an 87-71 victory over Milwaukee on Feb. 23 ... The teams split the four-game season series ... Chicago hosts Toronto on Friday ... Indiana remains on the road to face Cleveland on Friday.
[SportsNetwork.com]
