Kirk Hinrich scored a career-high 38 points, and the Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers 108-95 on Wednesday night even though their two best players were injured.
The Bulls learned earlier in the day that forward Luol Deng would miss one to three weeks because of his recurring left Achilles’ tendinitis. Then, they found out that leading scorer Ben Gordon would sit out with a sprained right wrist.
Even so, they had more than enough to beat the Pacers. Hinrich, who hit 14-of-21 shots, scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and left to a loud ovation with 40 seconds left. Andres Nocioni added 24 points, including 6 during a 17-0 run in the second quarter that snapped a 29-all tie and put the Bulls ahead for good.
Joakim Noah added 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Thabo Sefolosha scored 14 points.
Danny Granger did all he could to keep Indiana in the game, scoring a career-high 33 points.
The Pacers had whittled the lead to 79-77 on a basket by Shawne Williams and two free throws by Mike Dunleavy 1:16 into the fourth. But the Bulls went on a 16-6 run that increased their lead to 95-83 with 5:19 left in the game.
Hinrich scored six points during that stretch and delivered a behind-the-back pass in transition to Noah for a dunk that drew a roar from the crowd.
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BULLS BITS
The similarities are impossible to ignore. Andres Nocioni tried to return too soon from his lingering case of plantar fasciitis last season, ended up missing 28 games and never played at 100 percent during the playoffs. Now, Luol Deng is out a minimum of one to three weeks after trying to return from his left Achilles tendinitis before it fully healed. Deng said he would sleep in a protective boot to keep the foot flexed and might begin individual shooting in a week.
Snow and sloppy roads caused several players to arrive later than the required 6 p.m. time. Ben Gordon arrived last at 6:25 p.m. Asked if the widespread nature of the transgression would prompt him to waive the standard team fine, as the Bulls have done in the past, interim coach Jim Boylan said no.
